Russians to go to Winter Olympics as neutrals

Russian athletes will be allowed to compete at the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympics as neutrals despite orchestrated doping at the 2014 Sochi Games, the International Olympic Committee has said.

The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic committee and IOC member Alexander Zhukov, and also banned Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko from the Olympics. Mutko was the sports minister in 2014 and is head of the organising committee of football’s next World Cup. The IOC imposed a fine of $15 million (£11m) on the Russian Olympic committee to pay for investigations into the case and anti-doping work. It ruled that some Russians would be invited to compete as an “Olympic Athlete from Russia” without their national flag or anthem.