Sochi: Russia 'could claim compensation' after championships switch

Russia won 33 medals at Sochi 2014, 13 of which were gold

Russia could claim compensation after the 2017 bobsleigh and skeleton World Championships were moved from Sochi.

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) decided not to hold the February event in Russia after more details emerged of alleged state-sponsored doping in the country.

Senior Russian politician Valentina Matviyenko says Sochi may have a claim for "material and moral damages".

"We could file a lawsuit on reimbursement of expenses," she added.

Matviyenko, who is speaker in the upper chamber in Russia's parliament, also echoed the Kremlin's claim that the decision was based on politics, rather than sport.

Dr Richard McLaren's report was commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency

"One cannot agree with such a decision on the basis of any rules, norms of law. These are dirty political games against Russia," she said in comments reported by the Interfax news agency.

The IBSF said that it made the decision to move the event so to focus "on sport rather than the accusations and discussion - whether justified or not."

Russia is accused of running a doping programme that implicated more than 1,000 athletes at major international competitions between 2011 and 2015.

The claims are contained in a report by Canadian law professor and sports lawyer Dr Richard McLaren, which adds detail to his initial findings that were published in July.

According to McLaren, London 2012 was "corrupted on an unprecedented scale."

It is understood a number of German venues have offered to host the event, along with the Swiss town of St Moritz.

Additional reporting by BBC Monitoring