Russia Banned From Winter Olympics for State-Sponsored Doping

The Russian Olympic Committee has been banned from next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Some athletes will be able to compete under a neutral flag. The Russian Olympic Committee was also ordered to pay $15 million in costs by the International Olympic Committee for its part in the state-sponsored doping program at the Sochi Games in 2014. Any Russian athlete who wants to compete will wear a uniform bearing the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia” and must prove they were not involved in any state-sponsored doping program. They will play under the Olympic flag. Then minister of sport, Vitaly Mutko, and his then deputy minister, Yuri Nagornykh, have both been banned for life.