The Kremlin needs to analyse the International Olympic Committee’s ruling banning Russia and its sports officials from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games before making any decisions regarding the country’s participation, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin has said. He also said Russia "still needs to answer some questions" from the IOC. The Olympic body’s lead investigator concluded that members of the Russian government concocted a doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games. The Kremlin has vehemently denied running a state-sponsored doping programme, and state media on Wednesday dismissed the ban as part of a plot to hurt Russia. "All our sports officials, including the Russian Olympic Committee, ought to be personally accountable for the ban on Russia and ought to step down," he said in comments carried by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Source: Evening echo December 06, 2017 11:26 UTC