IOC bans Russia from next year's Winter Games

Russia were banned from the 2018 Olympics today over state-sponsored doping but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said, Russian competitors would be able to compete under strict conditions. 

The IOC announced the decision after examining evidence of state-sponsored doping over several years that reached a high-point at the Winter Olympics hosted in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. The decision was taken in



the IOC's executive board meeting today in Lausanne, Switzerland. However, the IOC said that Russian athletes would be able to take part in the Games, as independent competitors under the Olympic flag.

Nations have in the past been barred from taking part in the Olympics, notably South Africa during the apartheid years, but none has ever been handed a blanket ban over doping.