The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued an official statement on the performance of Russian athletes justified by the Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne (CAS) at the OI-2018 in Pyeongchang.

It is noted that the decision of the CAS does not give privileges to justifiable athletes regarding invitations to the Games and the Committee can appeal against the decision in the Federal Court of Switzerland.

"Decision of the IOC Executive Council on December 5, 2017 remains in force. From this it is clear that, since the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is suspended, Russian athletes can take part in the OI-2018 only at the invitation of the IOC.

The CAS decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 people will be invited to the Games. Cancellation of sanctions does not automatically grant privileges in invitations.

All this can seriously affect the fight against doping in the future. Therefore, the IOC intends to carefully analyze the reasoning part of the court decision when it is available, and does not exclude the reference to the Swiss federal court, "the IOC official website.

Note that CAS granted the appeal of 28 athletes regarding the decision of the IOC for life to remove them from participating in the Olympics. Sanctions against these athletes are canceled, and their results in Sochi are again considered valid. In addition, 11 more athletes satisfied the appeal.

Recall, December 5, 2017 IOC disqualified the Russian national team from the 2018 Olympics because of the doping scandal with Sochi-2014. "Clean" athletes under the neutral Olympic flag will be able to take part in the Games.