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Russia to host competition for banned athletes

January 31, 2018

The order from President Vladimir Putin follows the International Olympic Committee's decision in December to ban Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics. Putin has described the IOC's move as "truly strange."

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Putin at the Paralympics in Sochi in 2014
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Zemlianichenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government on Wednesday to organize a sporting competition for Russian athletes who were banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang for doping.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the government would pay the winners of the competition the same as it does for Olympic medalists.

Russian daily Izvestia reported earlier in the week that the southern resort city of Sochi — the site of the last Winter Games in 2014 — would host the new event. It is unclear whether foreign athletes will be allowed to participate.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued bans in December after finding evidence that Russian authorities had overseen a wide-scale doping scheme in previous Olympic Games.

Read more: Russian athletes cleared to compete under neutral flag

Is Russia playing fair with sport?

'Truly strange' ban

The Russian president told a group of Russian athletes eligible to take part in Pyeongchang in February to try and win amid "very difficult conditions."

"You should focus on the result and on your victory," he said during a meeting at the presidential residence outside Moscow. "Nothing should distract you from this.

"We all know very well, and you even better than anyone else, how difficult it is to achieve victory ... and it is twice as difficult when sports get mixed up with events clearly not related to sports, with superficial circumstances, with politics or something else," he added.

Putin admitted that some government officials may have made "mistakes" in administering drugs to athletes, but called the IOC's ban "truly strange." He has previously accused the United States of instigating doping allegations against Russia.

Read more: Eleven Russian athletes banned for life for doping

'Russia in my heart'

Athletes at the residence meeting thanked the president for the government's support for the February 9-25 Olympic Games.

Hockey players Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk gave Putin a jersey emblazoned with his name and "Russia in my heart."

The 169 Russian participants at the 2018 Games will compete under a neutral flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" and organizers will play the Olympic anthem in place of the Russian national anthem if they win.

Read more: Vladimir Putin: 'Russia will not boycott Winter Olympic Games'

amp/sms (AFP, dpa, AP)