By Karolos Grohmann
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday said it had extended provisional measures against Russia over its doping scandal “until further notice” pending the evaluation of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-commissioned report. The measures, first imposed on July 19 following the publication of the first part of the so-called McLaren report, include having no IOC-sanctioned events in Russia and urging sports federations to look for alternative locations for events. Some of the other measures, such as a ban on accreditations for Russian officials, were linked to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Canadian law professor Richard McLaren will deliver the second part of his report into state-sponsored doping in Russian sport on Dec. 9 at a London hotel.
The much-anticipated report is expected to provide more details on an elaborate doping scheme operated by Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics which McLaren outlined in his original report released in July. That led WADA to recommend that the entire Russian team should be excluded from August’s Rio Olympics.
Although Russian track and field athletes and weightlifters were banned from competing at Rio, the IOC rejected a blanket ban and let international sports federations decide which athletes were eligible to compete. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Ken Ferris)
By Karolos Grohmann
