Russia has decided to participate in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next year, despite lingering controversy over a doping scandal
 
Russia’s TASS news agency said the Russian Olympic Committee(ROC) President Alexander Zhukov announced the decision following an executive meeting on Wednesday.
 
It said it accepted the International Olympic Committee(IOC)’s invitation to participate in the upcoming winter games. The Games will be held in the Gangwon Province in February.
 
Zhukov said the ROC also endorsed a preliminary list of athletes to represent Russia in Pyongyang, including 336 men and 262 women.
 
However, Russia’s participation in the PyeongChang Games is pending the IOC’s review of the Richard McLaren reports last year, in which the Canadian law professor provided comprehensive evidence that more than one-thousand Russian athletes had their urine and blood samples tampered with.
 
The credibility of the report is being questioned by some, spawning expectations that the IOC will allow Russia to participate at the PyeongChang Olympics.