Reedie wants IOC verdict

The president of the World AntiDoping Agency has called for the International Olympic Committee to decide “at the earliest possible date” whether to throw Russia out of next year’s Winter Games.

However, Sir Craig Reedie stopped short of demanding the rogue nation be banned from Pyeongchang, even though he was on the Wada executive board which called for it to be expelled from Rio 2016.

Russia is understood to be in danger of missing the Winter Olympics after being found to have orchestrated the biggest drugs scandal in history.

The IOC refused to expel it from the Rio Games after it was found guilty of state-sponsored doping in an explosive report. But the publication of the second part of that report in December has resurrected the prospect of such a punishment being imposed. Opinion has hardened against Russia amid its ongoing denial of responsibility at state level for a programme from which 1,000 athletes benefited.

Speaking at the SportsPro Live conference at Wembley, Reedie – who is also an IOC member – said: “I think steps could be taken now which would allow the IOC to make that decision and preferably make it at the earliest possible date, in fairness to the Winter Games, in fairness to the competition involving the world’s athletes, as well as the federations themselves.

“And the only way to do that is to make sure that the work that is being done by the two disciplinary commissions which have been funded to get them together to finish their work as quickly as possible.”