Scott Thompson: Will Trump help Team Russia at winter games?

There will be no Team Russia in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics says the International Olympic Committee.

Due to a rampant Russian state-run doping scandal during the Sochi Olympics, the Russian Olympic Committee has been removed from Olympic participation (including Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister) and fined $15 million.

The IOC says clean Russian athletes can participate, but only under a neutral Olympic banner, not the flag of their origin.

Ouch. I can’t see Russian President Vladimir Putin agreeing to that.

Why compete if you can’t fly the flag or wallow in your national anthem?

With the Russian election the month after the winter games, Putin insists this is the U.S. retaliating for Russian inference in their last election.

Here we go again, can we just play the games? Unless of course if you’d rather try to save the world.

Considering the rumoured bromance between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin, maybe The Donald will let the Russians join Team USA and they can all march under the stars and stripes.

Perhaps, like Michael Flynn, who was charged for lying to the FBI, maybe the president feels sorry for Russia too.

Scott Thompson hosts The Scott Thompson Show! on 900 CHML.