The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has declined the invitation extended to 13 more athletes and two more coaches to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang even though their doping bans had been lifted.

On February 2, 2018, the suspended Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) provided a list of 15 people whose suspension had been lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAF). Thirteen are still active athletes and two are retired athletes who competed at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and are now acting as support personnel.

The Invitation Review Panel unanimously recommended that the IOC not extend an invitation to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 to the 15 individuals requested by the suspended ROC.

The panel agreed that the decision of the CAS had not lifted the suspicion of doping or given the panel sufficient confidence to recommend to the OAR IG (Olympic Athlete from Russia Implementation Group) that those 13 athletes could be considered clean.

With respect to the two officials (coaches), the panel took the view that, due to the evidence available from the Oswald Commission reports and additional information at the disposal of the panel, these two individuals should not be considered for an invitation to attend the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Xinhua