The International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened the veil of secrecy over the situation with the removal from the Winter Games in South Korean Phenchkhan Russian athletes who were not caught in doping violations. It turned out that the whole point is that any Olympian representing our country automatically causes suspicions among sports functionaries. "If some athlete is not on the list, then the independent commission has serious evidence from different sources, obtained in various ways, which do not allow to say that there is no serious suspicion.

This may be suspicion, it may even be an open investigation, there may be many factors that led to the dissatisfaction of the commission, "said the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach. His words lead the French edition of Le Monde. According to Bach, the decision to invite or not to compete for the Olympics is taken "on the basis of several factors".

The fact that the athlete was not issued a ticket does not mean that he is caught in the use of banned drugs. When deciding on the participation of a Russian athlete in the Games, his biological passport, the data of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, as well as information from the McLaren Report. Valerie Fourneiron, head of an independent commission that decided to admit athletes to the Olympics, confirmed that the fate of the Olympians was decided on the basis of suspicion only. "We wanted to be absolutely sure that there is not the slightest doubt, not the slightest suspicion regarding every invited athlete," she said.. The source of the French edition, familiar with the investigation conducted by the McLaren Commission, "clean" Russian athletes will not go to the Olympics in South Korea, in fact due to the fault of the ex-head of the Anti-Doping Center Grigory Rodchenkov and his accomplices. During the previous Games in Sochi in 2014. with doping-tests of detached athletes allegedly carried out certain manipulations. The test tubes were not substituted, but just a touch of them was enough to deprive the athletes of the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games. Russian officials strongly condemn the reluctance of the IOC to allow athletes who have not tarnished themselves.

"It's too early to say that this is the final decision. Personally, I believe that this unwise decision, which contradicts the Olympic Charter, destroys the Olympic movement, damages the sports community. We are trying to convince that this is unfair. We will fight and protect our athletes, "Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told RT. Two-time Olympic champion Elena Isinbayeva expressed her hope that the decision on non-admission of athletes will be reviewed.

"The exclusion of Russia's leading athletes from participating in the Games, of course, shocking, especially unfounded dismissals, in our view, but since there is no official explanation from the IOC, and the lists we received are only a preliminary decision by the independent commission of the IOC, committee, we can only accept those sanctions, conditions and criteria for the participation of our athletes in the Olympics, nominated by the IOC for today, "wrote a former sportswoman on her Facebook page. On January 23, the IOC refused to allow skaters Ivan Bukin (ice dancing) and Xenia Stolbova (pair skating), biathlete Anton Shipulina, short tracker Viktor Ana, skier Sergei Ustyugov and a number of Russian skaters and hockey players before the 2018 Olympics..

The organization officially refused to name the reasons for the suspension.