Russian athletes could face provocations at Olympics - Kolobkov
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Russian athletes might be subjected to various provocative actions at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea's PyeongChang, which would inevitably affect their performance, Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov said at the Olympic Assembly in Moscow on Tuesday.
"We also have serious concerns that, in the current situation, there is still the threat of provocations or the disqualification of leading Russian Olympians, which would affect the results of Russian athletes," Kolobkov said.
"It is absolutely unclear how many of them the IOC [the International Olympic Committee] will invite and on what terms," he said.
"What attitudes will there be toward them? In particular on the part of doping officers. There is still the risk that going to PyeongChang with the purpose of making their dreams come true and winning the coveted Olympic medal may for some turn for into having to face undeserved, unfounded accusations, as has already happened with a lot of the earlier disqualified athletes," Kolobkov said.