Just days prior to the Christmas holiday around the world we are hearing of another doping scandal for Russian sport.

It is being released that in total 28 athletes are now facing IOC cases linked to cheating at the Sochi Winter Olympics as well as having a major cross-country skiing event removed from Russia.

The IOC stated in a press release that it has opened 28 disciplinary proceedings against Russian athletes whose urine samples were likely tampered with at the 2014 Olympics.

Six (6) cases involve cross-country skiers, who were not identified are now provisionally suspended by the International Ski Federation.

Russia won five medals including one Gold, in men’s cross-country skiing on home snow at Sochi.

The new wave of Olympic doping cases is based on evidence recently provided by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren.

He detailed vast state-backed cheating in Russian sport that included swapping athletes’ tainted samples for clean urine through the testing laboratory at Sochi.

McLaren a Canadian law professor offered evidence of a method for state intelligence officers to break open supposedly tamper-proof glass sample bottles which had scratches behind the lid.

It’s reported that Urine samples retained by the IOC since Sochi included some with unnatural levels of salt in healthy humans.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied there was a state-backed program, and put any direct blame on the director of the labs at Moscow and Sochi, whose allegations to American media in May led to McLaren’s appointment.

Putin made accusations that Grigory Rodchenkov forwent doping evidence against Russian athletes but did not name any specific individuals.

Putin went on to mention that Rodchenkov was forcing Russian athletes to take illegal substances he had brought in from Canada where it’s reported that the scientist had previously worked.

Another fallout from the report was the world ski body stated Russian officials have handed back hosting rights for the end-of-season World Cup finals in cross-country skiing.

The event was scheduled in March in Tyumen, which loses the right to host the upcoming Biathlon and Speed Skating events in March 2017.

The IOC said the 28 new cases being examined by its disciplinary commission are not positive doping tests.

However if found positive “the manipulation of the samples could lead to an Anti-Doping Rule Violation and sanctions.”

The IOC mentioned that samples from Russian athletes at Sochi are now being re-tested at the WADA-accredited lab in Lausanne, Switzerland and the IOC states legal reasons for not identifying some or any of the athletes.

FIS said it was the responsibility of the Russian ski federation and the athletes themselves if they wished to be identified.

The International Biathlon Union mentioned that it had provisionally suspended two Russians whose cases from Sochi were opened by the IOC.

The re-testing of Russian athletes’ samples for traces of steroids and other banned substances now involves all four Olympic Games from 2008 through 2014.

The IOC said Friday that it already disqualified 27 Russian athletes, stripping an array of titles and medals, in re-tests of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics.

All samples from Russian athletes who attended the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are now being re-analyzed.

While at the 2010 Games in Vancouver the Russia team placed 11th in the medals and some feel this started the road to ruin for Russian Athletes.