The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned Russia's Olympic Committee from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and ordered it to pay $15m in costs, citing an 'unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport'. The IOC also accepted, for the first time, that the Russian state was involved in widespread institutional doping, banning former sports minister Vitaly Mutko and his deputy Yuri Nagornykh from all future Olympic Games.
Russian athletes who can prove they were not part of the state-sponsored doping programme that corrupted the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics will be allowed to compete in South Korea in February under the Olympic flag, wearing uniforms bearing the name 'Olympic athlete from Russia'. If any win gold, the Olympic anthem will be played at the medal ceremony.
The decision followed the final report of the Schmid commission, which concluded there had been a 'systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia' under the authority of the Russian sports ministry. IOC president Thomas Bach expressed sympathy for clean athletes who suffered from the manipulation.
There has been speculation that Russia might boycott the Games, but no such announcement has been made by President Vladimir Putin or the Russian Olympic Committee. Some critics argue the IOC has not punished Russia enough, recalling that 17 months ago it allowed most Russian athletes into the Rio Olympics despite evidence of state-sponsored doping.
The credibility of whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, who ran the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, was recently enhanced by the Oswald commission, which confirmed he was a 'truthful witness'. Rodchenkov agreed with the IOC's decision to allow some Russians as neutral athletes but said the problem was larger than indicated. His lawyer, Jim Walden, revealed a new database obtained by WADA showed 'thousands and thousands' of Russian athletes were implicated in a scheme to swap doped samples for clean ones.
