1ST LEAD Putin suggests elections interference; IOC bans four more skiers By Friedemann Kohler, dpa

Moscow (dpa) - Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thursday that doping allegations against Russian athletes and sanctions by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) could be part of a campaign to interfere in the upcoming presidential election.As four more Russian cross-country skiers received life bans from the Games by the IOC, Putin told workers in the city of Chelyabinsk that the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics February 9-25 are just ahead of the election set for March 18."There is suspicion that everything is being done to create indignation among sports fans and athletes because their state is said to be involved in rule violations," the Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying.Russia has been accused of state-sponsored activities in general and doping schemes at the Sochi 2014 home Winter Games which included the tampering of samples, in two reports by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigator Richard McLaren.Two IOC commissions are investigating, and the one dealing with the Sochi events, said Thursday that three-time silver medallist Maxim Vylegzhanin was banned for life from the Games together with team-mates Alexey Petukhov, Evgenia Shapovalova and Julia Ivanova - while a case against a fifth athlete was closed.The commission headed by Swiss Denis Oswald last week imposed the same sanctions on two other members of the cross-country team, Alexander Legkov and Evgeniy Belov.Legkov was stripped of 50km gold and a relay silver, with the relay team disqualified. That cost Vylegzhanin one medal, and he now also loses the silvers from the 50km and team sprint.The Russian cross-country ski federation also said it was preparing an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the four athletes. Legkov and Belov are also appealing at CAS via their German lawyers.Skiing‘s ruling body FIS will also deal with the cases of the six athletes who have been provisionally suspended since December 2016. The IOC ruling only applies for Olympic Games.The FIS said it aimed to rule swiftly as the ski season starts later in the month and the Pyeongchang Olympics opening February 9 are also nearing.The IOC aims to have a ruling on Russian participation in early December after the other commission has completed its work. The IOC refrained from a blanket ban for the Rio 2016 Games and is expected to do the same again.Russia‘s Investigative Committee on Wednesday refuted all allegations of state-sponsored doping and wrongdoings including the tampering of samples in Sochi.