ROC Helping to Return Medals to the IOC

(ATR) The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is cooperating with the IOC to get Russian Bobsleigh Federation President Alexander Zubkov to return the gold medals that he won at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

An IOC source tellsAround the Rings that "the ROC is very actively helping" in the process of collecting all the medals from Russian athletes stripped of them after the doping scandals of recent years.

ATR is told there were talks this past weekend in Moscow between representatives of the IOC and ROC.

The Moscow City Court refused last week to recognize the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to find Zubkov guilty of violating anti-doping rules during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

"The CAS decision in this case is enforceable since there was no appeal filed with the Swiss Federal Tribunal within the period stipulated. The IOC will soon request the medals to be returned," an IOC spokesperson said to TASS.

The IOC Disciplinary Commission chaired by Denis Oswald earlier found Zubkov guilty of violating anti-doping rules and annulled his two gold medals at the Sochi Olympics, banning him from competing in the Olympic Games for life. CAS upheld this decision but softened the lifelong suspension, choosing to ban Zubkov only from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang.

IOC representatives have not yet contacted Zubkov with a demand to return his medals, according to sports lawyer Artyom Patsev.

Meanwhile, this Wednesday a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) delegation is scheduled to visit the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory.

WADA experts must be allowed access to data from doping samples at the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, sealed due to a federal investigation. This is a key condition to re-establish the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

The delegation will include three WADA experts, according to Russian sports authorities.

If it fails to comply with the WADA terms, RUSADA will once again be declared non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.

In a controversial decision the WADA Executive Committee announced on September 20 that RUSADA was again in compliance with the Code of the global agency and its membership was reinstated.

RUSADA was suspended in November 2015 after a doping scandal in Russian athletics. New doping revelations were later made by the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov. He made headlines in 2016 as a whistleblower, helping expose the complex and extensive nature of Russia's doping program. Rodchenkov is currently in witness protection in the United States.

Reported by Miguel Hernandez.