Russia’s Olympic fate to be decided today

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russia could be banned from competing at the Pyeongchang Olympics, a prospect that President Vladimir Putin has warned would be humiliating for his country.

The decision will come today when the International Olympic Committee board meets in Lausanne, less than nine weeks before the games open on Feb. 9 in South Korea.

That panel was asked to assess if Russian state agencies did organize the doping program used at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach, a German lawyer long seen as an ally of Russia, is scheduled to announce the decision.

It might not be the last word, however. Russia can challenge any IOC sanction by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

PUNISHMENT OPTIONS

— A total ban on Russia competing in Pyeongchang.

— Some Russian athletes compete, if judged to be clean under long-term doping controls operating to international standards. They would be classed as neutral athletes competing under the Olympic flag, and would be denied hearing the Russian anthem if they win Olympic gold. Those rules were imposed on Russian athletes at the athletics world championships in August.

Putin has said either of those outcomes would be humiliating, and could provoke a Russian boycott.

— The IOC board could ask the seven governing bodies for Winter Olympic sports to decide on individual athlete eligibility. That compromise applied to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

— Impose a fine on the Russian Olympic committee. Tens of millions of dollars could go toward anti-doping work worldwide.

HOCKEY IN JEOPARDY

The men’s hockey tournament is already the first without the NHL’s participation since 1994, but banning Russia could diminish it even further.

The Moscow-based Kontinental Hockey League is widely considered the world’s second-strongest league, and it’s threatening to withdraw all its players from the Olympics if Russia is banned. Russia would otherwise be the gold-medal favourite.