IOC mulls penalty for doping by Russians

Total athlete ban considered unlikely in Dec. 5 decision.

PRAGUE — Top officials for the International Olympic Committee are considering a menu of possible penalties against Russia for doping violations, including barring the country’s national anthem at the coming Winter Olympics and keeping its delegation of athletes out of the opening ceremony, according to several people with knowledge of the deliberations.

With less than 100 days to go before the Pyeongchang Games begin, Olympic officials are under intense pressure to announce their decision on how Russia will be punished for corrupting several Olympics — most notably the 2014 Sochi Games — with an elaborate, state-supported doping scheme.

It is unclear which, if any, option the IOC leadership favors at this point.

Grigory Rodchenkov — Russia’s former anti-doping lab chief now living in the United States — described widespread, systematic doping in a tell-all account that prompted the World Anti-Doping Agency to commission an investigation.

The investigation, led by the Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, determined that Russia’s cheating schemes implicated about 1,000 athletes across 30 sports who had competed in global competitions from 2011 to 2015.

Rodchenkov said the cheating was most flagrant at the last Winter Games, in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The host country swept the standings, winning 33 medals — 13 of them gold.

Many athletes, anti-doping officials and Olympics officials from some countries are urging Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, to issue severe penalties.

The top Olympic officials are also considering the option of having Russian athletes compete under a neutral flag at the Pyeongchang Games or wear neutral uniforms, according to the people familiar with the case. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The IOC is unlikely to impose a total ban on Russia, an Olympic heavyweight, though it could issue a significant financial penalty, expel athletes and officials found to have been part of the doping scheme and remove any mention of Russia from the field of play, according to the people.

Russian officials have threatened to pull their athletes out of the Pyeongchang Games altogether if the sanctions are too harsh.

“The position is unequivocal for all — Russians will not compete under the neutral flag at the Olympic Games,” Alexander Zhukov, president of Russia’s Olympic committee, said in comments published on the Russian website R-Sport.

A decision is expected to be made on Dec. 5, when the IOC’s executive board meets.