Thomas Bach (left) and Vladimir Putin (center) are expected to meet during Sunday's final.GETTY IMAGES
IOC President Thomas Bach "could come into contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the country's doping scandal intensified" while attending the final in Moscow on Sunday, according to Nick Butler of INSIDE THE GAMES. A spokesperson confirmed that Bach "is following IOC tradition of accepting an invitation to the final of football's showpiece event" from FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He accepted a similar invite from Sepp Blatter to attend the '14 final in Rio de Janeiro, "where he witnessed his own Germany beat Argentina 1-0." He "sat next to Putin on that occasion." It is "not clear if Bach and Putin have formally arranged a meeting this time around." However, it "appears likely that the duo will at least meet each other in the VIP area" during the event at the Luzhniki Stadium, with Putin "having also already confirmed his attendance." The first two years of Bach's presidency "were dominated with meetings with Putin." Meetings between the two "abruptly ceased, however, after allegations of institutional doping by the home team" at Sochi 2014 emerged the following year. Bach "has claimed to have had no discussions on the issue directly with Putin," although he did speak with intermediaries including Putin aide Igor Levitin during PyeongChang 2018 (INSIDE THE GAMES, 7/11).
