The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has pledged that Russia will face further sanctions over illegal doping.
Thomas Bach told The New York Times that the IOC would take action despite new anti-doping measures introduced by President Putin.
“We have the impression that some in Russia were thinking that by addressing the issues for the future, the past would be forgotten,” Mr. Bach said in an interview on Tuesday. “You cannot forget what happened in Sochi. We have made clear that the past — what happened there — has to be sanctioned.”
An independent report by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) in 2016 accused the Russian state of carrying out a massive operation to cover-up positive drug tests for Russian athletes at major competitions.
Investigators found evidence that 12 Russian athletes who won medals at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi had substituted their drug test samples with help from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian Sports Ministry.
The findings led to dozens of Russian athletes being barred from competing in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, and the entirety of the country's Paralympic team being suspended from the tournament.
Twenty-four Russian Olympians are now facing provisional disciplinary proceedings, but no Sochi athletes have been stripped of their medals.
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