Whistleblower Grigori Rodchenkov will testify via video link when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) conducts hearings on appeals from 42 Russian athletes against their Olympic life bans.
"Yes, he will testify but from a distance," Rodchenkov's lawyer Jim Walden told German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
The CAS said earlier in the week it would conduct the hearings from January 22 and all rulings should be made by January 31 at the latest. This is just ahead of the February 9 opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Rodchenkov is a former head of the Moscow anti-doping lab who lives at a secret location in the United States. His revelations on wide-ranging doping practices at the Sochi 2014 Games are seen as key evidence as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had banned the Russian athletes for life from the Games.
The IOC has declared Rodchenkov a credible witness but there has also been criticism, including from the ruling bobsleigh and skeleton body, that Rodchenkov could not be cross-examined during the IOC hearings which led to the bans.
