The Kontinental Hockey League "threatened to make it exceedingly difficult" for its int'l players to compete at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in response to the IOC's "continued indecision about whether to allow Russia to participate," according to Marissa Payne of the WASHINGTON POST. KHL President Dmitry Chernyshenko said, "The IOC is dismantling the existing sports world order," referring to what he considers "unfair treatment of Russia in the wake of allegations that the country ran a state-sponsored doping program until last year." Russia has denied the allegations. He added, "Since the moment of its establishment and further on, the KHL complies with the rules of IIHF [Int'l Ice Hockey Federation] and WADA and does not tolerate doping as the entire sports community. Nevertheless, we do not accept the situation when the IOC panders to informants and commissions and suspends athletes, not basing on solid facts proving doping abuse." The IOC said that it "plans to make its final decision about Russian participation in December." If the IOC bans the country from participating, it "may still allow Russian athletes to compete, but they would have to do so based on a case-by-case basis and compete under a neutral flag, a situation Chernyshenko and others would still find unacceptable." Chernyshenko: "Vladimir Putin at the recent meeting ... underscored that the IOC is compelled either to force Russia to compete under a neutral flag or to ban it totally from the Olympics. Under each of these two scenarios, considerable damage will be inflicted on the Olympic movement. The KHL is ready to provide a relevant response." As to what that response might be, KHL board member Alexander Medvedev said that it likely would not be "an all-out ban but instead a lack of scheduling accommodation, similar to the policy imposed by the NHL." Medvedev: "The KHL won't talk about a ban (on players going to the Olympics), but about reviewing the calendar. In that case, contracted players won't be able to go anywhere. Legally, it's absolutely permitted. If Russia isn't taking part in the Games, then there's no sense in having a break (in the KHL season)" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/4).
