Russian fans react after the men's quarter-final ice hockey match between Norway and the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung on February 21, 2018. (AFP PHOTO)
MOSCOW, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russia has paid the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 15 million U.S. dollars to restore membership of the Russian Olympic Committee, which it was deprived of due to a doping scandal, the ROC said in a statement Thursday.
"Thus, all financial requirements, which were presented to the Russian Olympic Committee for the removal of the temporary suspension, have been fulfilled," the statement said.
In December, the IOC decided to suspend the ROC from the 2018 Winter Olympic Games over the doping scandal, but allowed clean Russian athletes to compete in uniforms bearing the name "Olympic Athlete from Russia" under the Olympic Flag, with the Olympic Anthem to be played in any award ceremony instead of the Russian Anthem.
It also demanded the ROC "reimburse the costs incurred by the IOC on the investigations and to contribute to the establishment of the Independent Testing Authority (ITA)...to build the capacity and integrity of the global anti-doping system."
The IOC said then it might lift the suspension of the ROC partially or fully right after the closing of the 2018 Winter Olympics if Russia complied with its demands.
The scandal was started by a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), accusing Russian athletes of a wide use of doping, which prevented a large number of Russian athletes and officials from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics.