Russian Olympic Official Says Ban Doesn’t Apply to Him

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — The Russian Olympic Committee is suspended from the Winter Olympics, yet its vice president was in Pyeongchang Thursday, just the latest loophole found in the ban.

Stanislav Pozdnyakov spoke to reporters in the Olympic press center, saying the ban doesn't apply to him.

For these Olympics, he's the head of the Olympic Athletes From Russia, the no-flag, neutral delegation of 168 athletes that the International Olympic Committee has allowed to compete. Forty-five more Russians are appealing their bans.

Pozdnyakov says that under the IOC ban "the president and the general secretary for the Russian Olympic Committee are not able to participate in these Games, but (there's) nothing about the vice president or other staff members.

"You have to read attentively the decision of the IOC."