November 18, 2017 – The FIS XC Ski 2017/18 season is underway and the World Cup start is around the corner beginning on Nov. 24 in Ruka, Finland but the fate of six Russians alleged to have doped at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games seems to hang in the balance – see FIS Council notice below from their Nov. 18 meeting.

FIS claims it will issue a communication on Nov. 23 regarding the “status” of Alexander Lekov, Evgeniy Belov, Julia Ivanova, Evgenia Shapovalova, Alexey Petukhov and Maxim Vylegzhanin – read more about the sanctions issued against the six skiers here and here.

The provisional suspensions issued by the FIS Doping Panel on Dec. 23, 2016 were confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but limited to Oct. 31, 2017 as the panel awaits the “receipt of the pending reasoned decision of the IOC Disciplinary Commission”. Thus five of the six athletes are racing this weekend – Belov won in Sweden on Friday – as Ivanova has since retired. Both Lekov and Belov announced their intention to fight the sanction.

Sweden’s SVT Sport channel reports that no ruling is coming on Nov. 23. “There is no decision before Ruka,” FIS Vice President, Sverre Seeberg, apparently told NRK. The FIS Council is waiting for documentation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Disciplinary Commission before making its decision.

Anti-Doping Update (FIS Council Decisions from Autumn 2017 Meeting on Nov. 18)
The IOC Disciplinary Commission recently issued its decisions in the cases against Cross-Country skiers Alexander Lekov, Evgeniy Belov, Julia Ivanova, Evgenia Shapovalova, Alexey Petukhov and Maxim Vylegzhanin. The commission has sanctioned them with disqualification from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and non-eligibility for future editions of the Games.

These six athletes have previously been subject to a provisional suspension by the FIS Doping Panel as from 23 December 2016, a measure which was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) although limited until 31October 2017.

Following receipt of the pending reasoned decision of the IOC Disciplinary Commission, the FIS Doping Panel will undertake the necessary steps in complete accordance with the FIS Anti-Doping Rules, affording the athletes the right of due legal process and convening personal hearings.

The procedures will take into consideration the impending FIS Cross-Country World Cup season which begins at the end of November 2017. A media communication with the status of the cases will be issued by FIS on Thursday 23 November 2017.

The Council welcomed the recent founding and goals of the Independent Testing Authority (ITA) under the lead of the IOC in collaboration with the International Federations, and noted that FIS is playing an active role in the establishment of the new structure.

Full release on all FIS Council decisions here.