MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia would take measures to defend the interests of the athletes who were disqualified and stripped of medals from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics for doping.

“The main thing is to persistently and energetically take all possible measures to protect our legitimate interests and the legitimate interests of our athletes together with international sports organizations,” Peskov told reporters at a conference call.

This month 14 Russian athletes were banned from the Olympics for life as the result of an investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) into allegations of widespread doping among Russian competitors and sample tampering by laboratory and security officials at the Sochi Games. [nL8N1NU3HZ]