Lausanne, Dec 6 (AFP) Russia was banned from the 2018Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over itsstate-orchestrated doping programme, but clean Russianathletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag.
The sanction was the toughest ever levelled by the IOCfor drug cheating and was delivered just 65 days ahead of theWinter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In announcing the decision, IOC president Thomas Bachaccused Russia of "perpetrating an unprecedented attack on theintegrity of the Olympic Games and sport".
An explosive report by the World Anti-doping Agency(WADA) and two subsequent IOC investigations have confirmedthat Russian athletes took part in an elaborate drug cheatingprogramme which peaked during the 2014 Winter Olympics inSochi.
Mounting evidence has indicated that the scheme involvedsenior government officials, including from the sportsministry, with help from secret state agents.
The IOC also banned Russia's Deputy Prime Minister VitalyMutko -- who was sports minister during the Sochi Games -- forlife.
Mutko is currently the head of the organising committeefor the 2018 World Cup, which Russia is hosting.
Attention will quickly turn to see if football's worldgoverning body FIFA allows the scandal-tainted ally ofPresident Vladimir Putin to retain his senior World Cup role.
In a statement, FIFA said it had "taken note" of the IOCdecision but it had "no impact on the preparations" for Russia2018.
After reviewing the case against Russia at a meeting inLausanne, Switzerland, the IOC also suspended the country'sOlympic Committee (ROC) and its chief Alexander Zhukov.
Zhukov said he "apologised" to the IOC on Tuesday for the"anti-doping violations" committed in his country in recentyears.
The IOC had the option of hitting Russia with a blanketban, the so-called nuclear option that was applied toapartheid-era South Africa from 1964 to 1988.
The IOC's decision to choose a more moderate path doesoffer some Russian athletes a route to competing in the Games-- although that will be by invitation only and dependent on astringent testing programme.
"The IOC, at its absolute discretion, will ultimatelydetermine the athletes to be invited from the list," the IOCsaid in a statement.
No Russian athlete with a previous doping violation willbe allowed to compete and no official who had a leadershiprole at Sochi 2014 will be invited to Pyeongchang.
Those athletes who do go to the Games, which start onFebruary 9, will participate under the name "Olympic Athletefrom Russia".
The country's flag will not fly at any 2018 ceremony, theIOC also said in a statement.
Bach said those measures amounted to "proportionalsanctions for this systemic manipulation" committed by Russia.
The US Olympic Committee praised the IOC's "strong andprincipled decision.
"There were no perfect options, but this decision willclearly make it less likely that this ever happens again," itsaid.
The head of the German Olympic Sports Confederation,Alfons Hoermann, called it "historic".
Russian officials have previously met doping accusationswith defiance.
Mutko has said the allegations were an attempt "to createan image of an axis of evil" against his country while Putinhas warned that a Russia ban would cause "serious harm to theOlympic movement".
He said forcing Russian athletes to compete under aneutral flag would amount to a national "humiliation."That has fuelled speculation that Moscow would instructits athletes to boycott the compromise solution decided by theIOC.
"An Olympic boycott has never achieved anything," Bachsaid, insisting that given the window left open for cleanathletes to compete, a boycott was unnecessary.
Speaking to Russian TV, the president of Russia'sBobsleigh Federation, Alexander Zubkov said: "This ishumiliation. This is a punch in the stomach."Russia have been stripped of 11 of their 33 Sochi medalsfor cheating, meaning they have lost their position at the topof the medals table to Norway. (AFP)AJR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.