MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressed hope that the commission chaired by Denis Oswald, tasked with re-verifying doping probes of Russian athletes from 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, would report on its findings before the start of the winter season.
"I hope that they [Oswald commission] can produce some results before the winter World Cup season starts," Bach said Monday at a press conference in Lima.
The IOC head also said that it was time to make some decision on the six Russian skiers suspended over doping abuse.
In December, the International Ski Federation provisionally suspended six cross country skiers from Russia, based on the findings of the second part of the report on alleged Russian doping abuse in 30 sporting disciplines by the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) independent commission headed by Richard McLaren. Russian Minister of Sport Pavel Kolobkov protested against the decision in January, pointing out that the skiers were spending almost all ski season abroad and submitting doping probes there.
Following the publication of the two parts of the WADA report in July and December 2016, the IOC established two commissions to decide on appropriate sanctions and measures, one of them led by Oswald.
The second commission established by the IOC is headed by former President of Switzerland Samuel Schmid and focused on the alleged involvement of the Russian Ministry of Sport and some other Russian government agencies in doping abuse among the country's athletes.
Russian officials have stressed that there was no state-sanctioned doping system, while admitting the existence of a problem with doping abuse.
A session of the IOC began on Monday in Peru's capital of Lima.
