breaking news this hour russia is banned from the two thousand and eighteen winter games but the international olympic committee will allow individual athletes to compete under a neutral flag. there's dismay among team russia as athletes and watch the announcement being delivered at the i.o.c. headquarters in switzerland. by broadcasting live director our studios in moscow this is art international i'm sean thomas let's get right to our top story this hour now russia has been banned from the two thousand and eighteen winter olympic games however individual athletes will be allowed to compete under

a neutral flag they will participate under the name olympic athlete from russia with the country's anthem and symbols banned from the games this means the abbreviation are will be written on russian athletes uniforms and an olympic flag will be next to their name also when a medal is awarded to them the olympic anthem will be played rather than russia's the i.o.c. has explained its decision by saying that some russian athletes doping test samples were manipulated during the sochi games in two thousand and fourteen these desailly will participate between individual or team competitions under the name olympic elsley it from russia. they will compete with a uniform bearing these. and under the olympics like. the olympic and swim will be played in he said really. russian figure skating coach it's not a sort of broke down in tears when she learned of the decision. so those new which

took as they say there are no words you know i don't want to cry i want to scream it's sad that we won't be at the games as a team that the russian flags will be flying it's devastating that there will be no tears of joy as you hear your national anthem but nobody's prohibited from singing the anthem i think that if there are victories and if there are athletes who want to participate and when i think we'll hear them singing. which is. our correspondent honest as he is now in the last sunday she has briefed us on the decisions made concerning the russian olympic team. it's been a very difficult day here obviously with so many eyes from around russia watching the announcement that would come from this room here in los down where the international olympic committee executive board made a final decision on the future of russia when it comes to these next winter olympic

games coming up in just two months from now now obviously it was a huge disappointment for all of those sports fans and athletes who have been preparing for so long to be able to compete in these olympics under their own flag and hear their anthem when they when certainly these are very important things for any athlete of course not just russian and of course it's been a huge blow to those who have been looking forward to that taking place now as you said obviously the latest is that russia has been batting so well we will not be seeing team russia perform at these olympics and this is actually the first time when a country using its own has been bound for doping reasons so this is certainly something that's seen as a very major step that's being considered as an anti russian one by the athletes who have been watching closely what the decision would bring now this is not the only sanction that was imposed here effective immediately by the i.o.c. they've also said that russia has to pay a very hefty fine. fifteen million u.s.

dollars for these inquiries that were carried out on the alleged doping scandal that russia now has to pay for also we do know that it's been announced that russian officials from the sports ministry will not be credentialed for these upcoming games also the minister of sports at the time of the sochi olympics in two thousand and fourteen as well as his deputy will be excluded from any participation in all future olympic games the president of the russian olympic committee is going to be suspended as an i.o.c. member and all of these factors taken into account it has also been said that the i.o.c. may partially or fully lift this is spent on of the russian olympic committee from the commencement of the closing ceremony of these upcoming games provided these dishes decisions are fully respected and implemented by russia now of course we have to be clear that throughout this whole time russia has denied these

allegations being made against it and has been quite vocal about this seeing this decision as something that would be inadmissible in the days leading up to this announcement but let's hear what the president of the russian olympic committee had to say. about russian athletes will participate in the olympics under a neutral flag and without the national anthem but this restriction is valid only until the last day of the games we still believe that all restrictions on russia will be cancelled on the final day so that our athletes can march under a russian flag together with other teams from the rest of the world still this decision will be discussed further and the final decision will take place later well given that these winter olympic games are just two months from now we'll see how the events will unravel moving forward but it's safe to say that this announcement here has been a huge blow for athletes and sports fans in russia but we'll see what happens next with still two months to go. those russian athletes who received

a life ban from the olympics in the past few weeks shared their emotions with us saying all their dreams had been shattered. what's been the. possible from somebody go into some form of what you more specifically did this to you that you just melted so. that. the school the. state of the history to show you know. that's the you know it's going to be skewed to the french but she still. has to this building to see suppose it's like. the police presence could. occur. and it's just.

that's just worked up to that says. it plans to put them in the. midst of this what is it that the city set up for a school that's honest and. not. being able to even that's the sort of you know for those that are. still. a lot of the danish in the world what choice for you. was to further discuss the issue where joined live by dave lindorff investigative journalist and founding editor of the online newspaper this can't be happening dave thanks for being with us here on r t international were talking just before you came on crazy circumstances here the i.o.c. disciplinary commission's report has found no evidence of state sponsored doping let's listen to how this has been formulated in the report take

a listen. nevertheless the independent and impartial evidence do not allow the i.o.c. d.c. to establish with certitude either who initiated or who headed this scheme on many occasions reference was made on the involvement at the minister of sports level but no indication independent or impartial evidence appeared to cooperate any involvement or knowledge at a higher level of the state all right so there it is in writing from the report why did they ban that russian sports officials for life from attending the winter olympics if they found no evidence of state knowledge of the matter well you know you have to realize that a lot of countries have organized. doping their athletes china being one of them and. we can't think of a time that a country has been banned for that even when it's clear that it was done at with

higher authority from the government so i have to say that this looks like totally about politics not about you know cleaning up the olympics who are so samuel schmidt the chief of the i.o.c. as commission mentioned that some figures in the report fluctuate because the investigation is still ongoing let's listen to another clip if you don't mind. if there are two options either forcing russia's compete under a neutral flag or not letting it go to the olympics a tool either is a humiliation for the country. so given that the investigation is not concluded is this decision excessive or premature even. well i would say it's premature and and based on the evidence they have been ing of the whole country steam is excessive they could have solved the problem by putting extra tests on russian

and fleets if they were suspicious but you know an extra monitoring but. as i said this is an extreme measure that hasn't really been done. to my mind and i i could be wrong but i don't think it's been done before. and if it has it's extremely rare and you need really good evidence to do that to a whole athletic team that you know has put a lot of years of their lives training for this you know it's clearly politics it's designed to humiliate russia when you bring up politics there i mean it seems like it's all political but political the use of athletes is prohibited under the olympic charter in this case is this being ignored. yeah i think it is i mean it's going to be. may backfire because you may find russian athletes competing. you know it was supposedly under that what is it oh ok our

designation doing things that would highlight the fact that there are russian and then everybody will talk about it in the news and so you know if it's short of would back fire i'm not sure that this through right could be interesting to see how this all plays out in the days and weeks to come especially before the run up to the olympics dave lindorff investigative journalist and founding editor of the online newspaper this can't be happening thanks for being with us here on art international but. all right now to remind you the international olympic committee says that russian athletes can only compete under a neutral flag they will participate under the title olympic athlete from russia with the country's flag and symbols banned from the games next tuesday russian sports officials are expected to hold a meeting on how to react to that decision but earlier president putin said that the neutrals option would be humiliating for the country.

there are two options either forcing russia to compete under a neutral flag not letting it go to the olympics to either is a humiliation for the country. are joining us in the studio is. for being with us now. so the decision that we heard today. how likely is it that russia will boycott the games completely well this question whether russia will agree to compete under this neutral olympic flag that's of course a tough question and it's a tough decision that will have to be made it will depend on the individual athletes of course on the one hand but then still we understand that the russian olympic officials will somehow influence that they are of course responsible for the facilities they provided them they were in charge of the training but anyway if russia goes for this boycott of the winter games in twenty eighteen that will be the direct result of the odyssey decision that we heard on tuesday but the i.o.c.

probe has already resulted in more than two dozen russian winter olympians being banned for life and we understand that there is more to come and questions have been raised along the lines of why do athletes who test positive from different countries get bans for only a few years and then they're allowed to compete and then when it comes to the russian athletes they're supposed to be kept away from the olympics for good so you bring up these lifetime bans has the i.o.c. given any reason for these specific life bans well just to remind you the reasons for the athletes being disqualified are of course the scratches on doping test bottles and then also the excessive amounts of salt and the clean doping test samples which as the odyssey is putting it couldn't have been produced by a human body but the question is is that enough to blame individuals for cheating

while they could have been unaware of this kind of tampering is this enough to produce life bans and strip the queen washington b. and of their right to carry the russian flags during the winter games the answer from many people here in russia would obviously be no unlike the reaction that we heard from some of the national olympic officials in europe. right and they i.o.c. has taken this decision it is an important step in protection then tegretol sport and use come forward as lists and they're competing on a level playing field it's a good day for international sport a good day for german sport all right so have we been shown any visual proof of the i.o.c. conclusions about the scratches and the ways to open sample bottles that is the question that also one russian journalist asked. executive board press conference

and the answer from mr schmidt was you will be able to read about it in the forensic reports. the figures fluctuate because the analysis is the examinations the investigations are still ongoing. there are all sorts of details in the forensic reports and examinations and i certainly do not wish to go into the details here and. i do not wish to divulge too many of these details however the fact remains that. we can ascertain that there has been there was money tampering. well this brings us to the concerns here in russia over the transparency and also

allowing the russian side access to some of these experiments because we understand that the officials the athletes and the fans who are sympathetic we understand that they are two going through a lot of stress right now these people have been really eager to see some of the visual elements of that and i guess that sums up the concerns from this side from the russians what about the people on the ground you were in south korea recently what do the people there make of the russian doping scandal and were they expecting to see team russia peeing in the games there and well i want to seoul which is in the capital of the winter olympics twenty eight ing which is chang but in seoul people are too and to supporting this and some of them are of course going to see it live on t.v. some of them are going to go to. and the people were telling me that yes they are expecting the rules to be enforced they don't want doping but they will indeed miss and they realize that in some winter sports like for instance on ice hockey or

figure skating you just can't imagine that competitions especially if it is the winter olympic games without team russia so let's have a look at how i spoke to these people in the streets of seoul south korea first bid to become the whole of winter olympics almost sixteen years ago in two thousand and eight young chang lost to russia's tsotsi but south koreans hung in there and eventually did manage to make their dream come true. but at the had over ceremony and saw it she who would have thought that russia went to a sports powerhouse could end up missing out on the games in four years. have you heard about the russian doping scandal no i haven't heard. nobody does

a repeat yeah yeah i have never i don't have any problem. i heard you say that this is. her face i don't know that it's true each time to be with you. what do you think the winter olympics would be like without russia. to bring a little bit more so the strongest country. but i. feel that it's like a. national. game with spain the you know and it's not really a game when the biggest player is not there and we don't get into the rights to. be it's. just well this is going to different on the winter olympics but you know russia. kind of a country that's so few political stuff. in the south korean capital which is

looking forward to the country's first ever winter olympics that will happen without team russia where most of the russian athletes who were handed life bans that dispute the evidence that was presented against them they insist they are innocent and accuse officials of violating their presumption of innocence artie's kate partridge looks at how russia has been treated as guilty from the very beginning. four years ago there was skepticism that russia's first winter olympics would go without a hitch due mungo's predicted not enough flights not enough hotels and not enough snow concerns about socially squaller in sochi double toilets and missing door handles the water came out of the tower problem with the door of the house skaters went so well even critics had to admit they were it rethink going amazing it's running like clockwork and everything's just going really really well as i'm been really impressed and everything rush is on so far so much to care about. so far

well organized people are really friendly here and having a good time like you are accommodation for almost four years later and russians who triumphed in sochi and now being stripped of their medals and given life a live picture why twenty sixteen the mitchell report explosively claimed russia used an elaborate system of state sponsored doping athletes officials and the ministers were implicated like the plots of a cold war novel the attitude to russia a return to skepticism then retribution as its track and field team and entire paralympic team with damage from the rio gave which left the clean athletes wondering why. about how the russians completing it so they got it the right policy but sure they are a clean nation never mind cleaned up actually they are to be

a clean nation. the i.o.c. and i p.c. have now definitively fact up mclaren supporting the claims of former lab boss cricketing don't think of who's under criminal investigation in russia and saying that infamous sample swapping system has finally been replicated but questions remain the i.o.c. standard of proof is not beyond any reasonable doubt but rather the balance of probability the presumption of guilt is enough it was lodging called who was the original and only source of the so-called proof against russian fleets this evidence has been grossly overvalued we can see we are seeing the results of a proper legal process it's a question of faith to believe broaching course or not it looks more like a religious inquisition is less than full bottles had no visible scratches they were presumed tampered with as the russians must have perfected their technique and left no marks and no argument basis for an on mass ban to clean condemned without

any guilt no presumption of innocence for team russia what we see here is actually a violation of the olympic charter which is. which stands against political national racial discrimination so it appears that in the name of protecting clean athletes they are actually taking away the rights of russian clean athletes and in my opinion the mclaren accusations are unfounded and they are very politically biased. surely any athlete should be denied a medal and banned from competition if he or she cheats it undermines others' lifetime's work as does abound slapped on the innocent who are simply presumed guilty. thomas barker the president of the international olympic committee gave his assurances the decision wasn't politically motivated the eye you see is politically

absolutely neutral we would not allow her to be influenced by any kind of political considerations in. such a sporting matters just listening to the press conference and they fielded exactly that question and they said this isn't a political decision but of course the world knows that it's exactly that this has been a controversy that has been clouded in political judgment and it's impossible to separate this particular decision from what's going on in the rest of the world regarding fake news and the allegedly intervention of russia into britain's bragg's it vote and even the american presidential election so there is a lot of this kind of stuff swirling around the world at the moment a lot of it is beyond belief frankly about people are accepting some of it so i

don't think you can disentangle the two things before the i.o.c. decision youngsters from hockey clubs across russia have showed their support for the nation's athletes by organizing a flash mob online chanting we want to go to the olympics. i i. i . well that does it for me i'll be back in about thirty five minutes with more special coverage of this olympic decision you are watching our international live from moscow. here's what people have been saying about redacted in the us exactly just full on

author of the only show i go out of my way to find you know what it is that really packs a punch at least yampa is the john oliver of party americans do the same thing we are apparently better than blue the things that i see people you've never heard of love redacted tonight not the president of the world bank hey i'm going to write a seriously send us an email. if you trust the mainstream media well then you're in the minority sadly a great deal of media today is not designed to inform but rather confirm political biases this approach of the news is not only polarizing but it's also lowering journalistic standards this is why readers and viewers seek their news elsewhere before hard sell you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battle if it's going. to do stops by to tell you that so be gossip and publish but also the most important news today. off of

advertising tell me you are not cool enough to buy their product. all the hawks that along the border will watch. palestine is getting international recognition with the help of israel at least in the world of zoos i'm in bill fit to finish it to do it love me feel like a million little pieces and my compass is going up so phil saviano may be a bit. old john without a doubt. the only palestinians who gets the most help from his jerusalem counterparts i don't think there's some of those who in the world under the vision of not only could do this. and not fizzle off with knowledge they had to this lady of the most of which they had i'm going to continue muslims you know do more commitments last time piss off.

i was a very telling that cyclist was one of the the best primary spinning in the world in my age group there was since the tour de france started people have been trying to increase their performance by by using various substances. and i've been doing exactly the same. we have used for medicine for people who do not have as much still it's legal but i think it's call it the gray area it's so close to both is illegal and what is not

and for me personally it doesn't represent fair play. so how are you going to distribute these the charge is absurd it's full of contradictions for the focus really it's not trying to lie when i was one of money comes from work i used to spend spend spend spend old. was about to use the some of. the youth build a little boy to. teach. the police i met these men i would think one of them for yes they were the country all

of us who need it over to the good side to lead nice you wouldn't just blather with this it does there's those butts men that is that if you strong finish at the sides and they've been put away you know it's adjusting its used to misspoke when you said it is it was too good i asked as you don't what use do you have but i've. yet to get those to. several my. before the rio olympics yelena isinbayeva still believed in justice that those going to does it the most it was that we were it's faith it was let them evaluate their view that was to mean there's an umbrella of i would that but that's not just it was not it's just that our senior do it should be yes that they do is a lot but then we go it's in a dish it's you misspoke or we have to buy it it's barely scars them into their limbs this didn't happen they banned the entire russian track and field team from the rio olympics. to avoid you know and there's a stand here because because it's. not going to burn up here in

new delhi who was nervous about that city but out of that but i want you to just distributor. of the past the super bowl this is just what i think. the stick by you get on the. plane from this board that i waiting i see what it is coming down at the bar that i think about you don't feel that they have the support of the scimitar they look at me with. michael rasmussen is a mountain biking champion king is the mountains of the two thousand and five two thousand and six two and a france he builds a meteoric sports korea the came out of the world's most famous cyclists. saying many people a want to keep the illusion alive. and. i'm sorry if i have to break the news that . i do not believe an illusion.