Olympia: IOC: Russia sanctions? Pure speculation?

The IOC has once again vigorously denied that sanctions against Russia for state-orchestrated doping have been decided upon, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The German IOC President Thomas Bach had made it clear “on many occasions” that the decision on sanctions rests with the two independent commissions set up to investigate the matter.A decision should be made well before the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang/South Korea.

The rumour has been going around for some time that Russia could possibly prevent an Olympic exclusion by paying a fine.The IOC Assembly had recently amended the Olympic Charter in Lima to allow fines for violations of the rules and regulations caused by doping or other manipulations to be imposed in the future.The IOC said:”It is also pure speculation that this change is in the context of a possible punishment of Russia.”

Two reports by Canadian Chief Investigator Richard McLaren for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had shown Russia to be systematically involved in doping by government agencies.Russian athletes had been largely excluded from the Olympic Games in Rio.The second McLaren report estimates more than 1000 doped athletes.