Russian President <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/instances-doping-use-in-russia-admits-putin-31242">Vladimir Putin today said &quot;sorry&quot;&nbsp;on </a>behalf of his government for not being able &quot;shield&quot; athletes after the doping scandal hit the country.

The president said athletes faced &quot;very difficult conditions&quot; as a result of the scandal.

&quot;Forgive us for not having been able to shield you from this,&quot; Putin said.

On Wednesday, the Russian president had admitted to &quot;instances&quot; of doping in Russia.

However, Putin dismissed whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov as an &quot;idiot&quot; after he reportedly said that the Russian president must have known about state-sponsored doping program.

The International Olympic Committee has banned Russia from the 2018 Olympics after reports of large-scale doping in previous games.

Only 169 of Russian athletes have been allowed to take part in the Winter Olympics next month under a neutral flag as&nbsp;&quot;Olympic Athlete from Russia&quot;.

&quot;For us certain things are truly strange,&quot; Putin said, adding, &quot;Hundreds of thousands, millions of fans who love you are watching you.&quot;

Meanwhile, Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said the verdicts on appeals from 39 Russian athletes who were given lifetime Olympic bans for doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games will be announced on Thursday.

The athletes were disqualified from their events, banned from participating in future Olympics and in some cases stripped of their medals following the International Olympic Committee&rsquo;s investigation of widespread doping in Sochi.

The president said athletes faced "very difficult conditions" as a result of the scandal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today said "sorry" on behalf of his government for not being able "shield" athletes after the doping scandal hit the country. The president said athletes faced "very difficult conditions" as a result of the scandal. "Forgive us for not having been able to shield you from this," Putin said. On Wednesday, the Russian president had admitted to "instances" of doping in Russia. However, Putin dismissed whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov as an "idiot" after he reportedly said that the Russian president must have known about state-sponsored doping program. The International Olympic Committee has banned Russia from the 2018 Olympics after reports of large-scale doping in previous games. Only 169 of Russian athletes have been allowed to take part in the Winter Olympics next month under a neutral flag as "Olympic Athlete from Russia". "For us certain things are truly strange," Putin said, adding, "Hundreds of thousands, millions of fans who love you are watching you." Meanwhile, Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said the verdicts on appeals from 39 Russian athletes who were given lifetime Olympic bans for doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games will be announced on Thursday. The athletes were disqualified from their events, banned from participating in future Olympics and in some cases stripped of their medals following the International Olympic Committee’s investigation of widespread doping in Sochi.

Sorry for not being able to shield you from doping scam: Putin to Russian athletes

&nbsp;Russia has no plan to boycott the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) imposes restrictions on the country&#39;s participation in alleged state-sponsored doping, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The IOC is set to decide on Tuesday on Russia&#39;s participation as more than 20 Russian athletes have been banned from the Olympics for life over doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games.

&quot;No, it&#39;s not being discussed,&quot; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of a possible Russian boycott in a conference call with reporters.

&quot;We are against the infringement of our athletes&#39; rights, the unjustifiable infringement of rights. But at the same time Russia remains committed to the ideals of Olympism.&quot;

Peskov added that Russia&#39;s decision not to boycott was made by President Vladimir Putin and was aimed at &quot;preserving all possible channels of cooperation and dialogue with the IOC, as well as with other international sports organisations&quot;.

The IOC has been re-testing all Russian athletes&#39; samples from the 2014 Games following disclosures by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow&#39;s suspended anti-doping laboratory, of a scheme to cover up home competitors&#39; positive samples.

The bans on Russian athletes came as a result of an IOC investigation into widespread doping by Russian athletes and sample-tampering by laboratory and security officials at the Sochi Games.

Russian sports authorities have vowed to appeal against the suspensions.

Despite repeated calls for cooperation with international bodies to help rid Russia of doping, the authorities have never acknowledged the state&#39;s role in the scandal.

Russia&#39;s Paralympic Committee, athletics federation and anti-doping agency RUSADA remain suspended over doping issues.

The IOC is set to decide on Tuesday on Russia's participation as more than 20 Russian athletes have been banned from the Olympics for life over doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games,

Russia has no plan to boycott the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) imposes restrictions on the country's participation in alleged state-sponsored doping, the Kremlin said on Monday. The IOC is set to decide on Tuesday on Russia's participation as more than 20 Russian athletes have been banned from the Olympics for life over doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games. "No, it's not being discussed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of a possible Russian boycott in a conference call with reporters. "We are against the infringement of our athletes' rights, the unjustifiable infringement of rights. But at the same time Russia remains committed to the ideals of Olympism." Peskov added that Russia's decision not to boycott was made by President Vladimir Putin and was aimed at "preserving all possible channels of cooperation and dialogue with the IOC, as well as with other international sports organisations". The IOC has been re-testing all Russian athletes' samples from the 2014 Games following disclosures by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow's suspended anti-doping laboratory, of a scheme to cover up home competitors' positive samples. The bans on Russian athletes came as a result of an IOC investigation into widespread doping by Russian athletes and sample-tampering by laboratory and security officials at the Sochi Games. Russian sports authorities have vowed to appeal against the suspensions. Despite repeated calls for cooperation with international bodies to help rid Russia of doping, the authorities have never acknowledged the state's role in the scandal. Russia's Paralympic Committee, athletics federation and anti-doping agency RUSADA remain suspended over doping issues.

No plan to boycott Olympics after doping scandal: Russia

&nbsp;Russia&rsquo;s cross country gold medalist Alexander Legkov and compatriot Evgeniy Belov were banned from the Olympics for life on Wednesday over doping at the Sochi 2014 winter Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.

The two athletes were the first Russians to be sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations following an IOC investigation into allegations of widespread doping among Russians and sample tampering by lab and security officials to give them the edge.

Legkov won gold in the 50km and a silver medal in the 4x10km relay event. The IOC said all of Russia&rsquo;s 4x10km team would be disqualified given Legkov&rsquo;s violation.

Belov did not medal at the Sochi Games.

The IOC did not specify what kind of anti-doping rule violation the skiers had committed but said both of them were &ldquo;ineligible to be accredited in any capacity for all editions of the Games... subsequent to the Sochi Olympic winter Games.&rdquo;

<figure tabindex="-1">
It said more decisions would follow in the coming days as it completes its investigations into Russian competitors.

The IOC is re-testing all Russian athletes&rsquo; samples from the 2014 Games following revelations by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow&rsquo;s discredited anti-doping laboratory, of a scheme to cover up home competitors&rsquo; positive samples.

The Sochi scandal is part of a wider doping affair in Russia that has led to the suspension of the country&rsquo;s anti-doping agency and an international ban for track and field athletes.

The IOC has said it will decide during its executive board meeting on December&nbsp;5-7 about the participation of Russian competitors at the Pyeongchang winter Olympics in February.

Russian track and field athletes were banned from the Rio de Janeiro summer Games following the doping affair.
</figure>

The two athletes were the first Russians to be sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations following an IOC investigation into allegations of widespread doping among Russians and sample tampering by lab and security officials to give them the edge.

Russia’s cross country gold medalist Alexander Legkov and compatriot Evgeniy Belov were banned from the Olympics for life on Wednesday over doping at the Sochi 2014 winter Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said. The two athletes were the first Russians to be sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations following an IOC investigation into allegations of widespread doping among Russians and sample tampering by lab and security officials to give them the edge. Legkov won gold in the 50km and a silver medal in the 4x10km relay event. The IOC said all of Russia’s 4x10km team would be disqualified given Legkov’s violation. Belov did not medal at the Sochi Games. The IOC did not specify what kind of anti-doping rule violation the skiers had committed but said both of them were “ineligible to be accredited in any capacity for all editions of the Games... subsequent to the Sochi Olympic winter Games.” It said more decisions would follow in the coming days as it completes its investigations into Russian competitors. The IOC is re-testing all Russian athletes’ samples from the 2014 Games following revelations by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s discredited anti-doping laboratory, of a scheme to cover up home competitors’ positive samples. The Sochi scandal is part of a wider doping affair in Russia that has led to the suspension of the country’s anti-doping agency and an international ban for track and field athletes. The IOC has said it will decide during its executive board meeting on December 5-7 about the participation of Russian competitors at the Pyeongchang winter Olympics in February. Russian track and field athletes were banned from the Rio de Janeiro summer Games following the doping affair.

2 Russian skiers get life bans over Sochi Games doping

Russian drug cheats will be competing at next month&#39;s Rio Olympics, the whistleblowers who helped uncover the country&#39;s doping scandal have told the BBC. 
 
Vitaly Stepanov, who worked for Russia&#39;s anti-doping agency, and his wife, former drugs cheat Yulia Stepanova, helped lift the lid on Russian doping in a series of documentaries by German broadcaster ARD. 
 
Their evidence led to a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which uncovered widespread doping in Russian athletics, and was followed by the McLaren report. 
 
The latter found Moscow had concealed hundreds of positive doping tests in many sports ahead of the Sochi Games. 
 
However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to impose a blanket ban on Russia competing in Rio. 
 
The Stepanovs said yesterday that the IOC&#39;s stance of leaving governing bodies to decide whether Russians could take part in the Games meant there would be Russian athletes in Rio whose cheating had previously been covered up. 
 
&quot;Others that have been covered up over the past years by the Russian sports authorities, they will compete as supposedly clean athletes,&quot; the pair said in a joint BBC interview. 
 
&quot;As the report said it involved 20 summer Olympic sports, this system of cover ups, so yes there will be athletes who have used doping from Russia in Rio.&quot; 
 
The couple have fled Russia and are living in hiding at an undisclosed location in North America, after they provided evidence of doping. 
 
The IOC decided on Sunday not to impose a total ban on Russian competitors despite the country&#39;s doping history. 
 
They asked sports federations, however, to stop Russian athletes from competing in Rio who were implicated in the McLaren report, or had been previously sanctioned. 
 
This dashed Stepanova&#39;s hopes of running at the Games as an independent athlete, which Vitaly said was unfair. 
 
&quot;You didn&#39;t really have a choice if you wanted to be a member of the national team,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;She has served her ban, fully served her ban, she thinks that she should not be punished a second time for something that she did in the past.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

The verdict against blanket ban on Russia means there will be athletes in Rio Games whose cheating had been covered up, the couple said

Russian drug cheats will be competing at next month's Rio Olympics, the whistleblowers who helped uncover the country's doping scandal have told the BBC. Vitaly Stepanov, who worked for Russia's anti-doping agency, and his wife, former drugs cheat Yulia Stepanova, helped lift the lid on Russian doping in a series of documentaries by German broadcaster ARD. Their evidence led to a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which uncovered widespread doping in Russian athletics, and was followed by the McLaren report. The latter found Moscow had concealed hundreds of positive doping tests in many sports ahead of the Sochi Games. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to impose a blanket ban on Russia competing in Rio. The Stepanovs said yesterday that the IOC's stance of leaving governing bodies to decide whether Russians could take part in the Games meant there would be Russian athletes in Rio whose cheating had previously been covered up. "Others that have been covered up over the past years by the Russian sports authorities, they will compete as supposedly clean athletes," the pair said in a joint BBC interview. "As the report said it involved 20 summer Olympic sports, this system of cover ups, so yes there will be athletes who have used doping from Russia in Rio." The couple have fled Russia and are living in hiding at an undisclosed location in North America, after they provided evidence of doping. The IOC decided on Sunday not to impose a total ban on Russian competitors despite the country's doping history. They asked sports federations, however, to stop Russian athletes from competing in Rio who were implicated in the McLaren report, or had been previously sanctioned. This dashed Stepanova's hopes of running at the Games as an independent athlete, which Vitaly said was unfair. "You didn't really have a choice if you wanted to be a member of the national team," he said. "She has served her ban, fully served her ban, she thinks that she should not be punished a second time for something that she did in the past." (Reuters)

Russian whistleblowers: Drug cheats will compete in Rio

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Sorry for not being able to shield you from doping scam: Putin to Russian athletes

No plan to boycott Olympics after doping scandal: Russia

2 Russian skiers get life bans over Sochi Games doping

Russian whistleblowers: Drug cheats will compete in Rio