Norwegian Football Association head Terje Svendsen has called on FIFA to act if the doping claims are proven ©Getty Images

Football Association of Norway (NFF) President Terje Svendsen has claimed Russia should be banned from competing at their home World Cup if allegations of doping in football in the country are proven.

Svendsen also called on FIFA to step-up their investigation into the doping scandal.

In an apparent acceleration of their probe, FIFA confirmed last week they had submitted a list of questions to former Moscow Laboratory director turned whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov.

The governing body also said they had reviewed data from a key database, obtained by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November and which could lead to doping cases being brought in football.

Svendsen, head of the NFF since February 2016, claimed other Nordic countries such as Sweden and Denmark supported his stance.

"If football in Russia has been part of a Government-controlled doping system then exclusion should be considered in the same way as for other sports," said Svendsen. 

"But football is a team game so it is crucial to understand the exact extent in which national team players were involved or not."

The claims from the NFF head have been swiftly condemned in Russia ©Getty Images
The claims from the NFF head have been swiftly condemned in Russia ©Getty Images

He added: "It has previously been unclear to what extent Russian football has been involved.

"Now we need to have facts on the table: how many players have been involved and how much they have been involved.

"If it is the case that football is involved in the Government-funded doping regime, it is of course very serious."

Svendsen was immediately rebuked by acting Russian Football Union (RFU) head Alexander Alayev, who took over the role following the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko.

Alayev told Russia's official state news agency TASS that Svendsen's comments were "unacceptable" and the RFU were considering filing a complaint to the FIFA Ethics Committee.

He said the Norwegian's motivation was to "discredit Russian football" prior to the scandal-hit nation hosting the World Cup in June and July.

"Besides, it is obvious that our Norwegian colleagues did not set this goal on their own," Alayev said.

FIFA had been criticised for their apparent lack of action regarding the allegations of doping in Russian football following reports that the entire team from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil were implicated in the McLaren Report and were being investigated.