One year before the Winter Olympics are to kick off, it looks like Sochi 2014 is getting mired in controversy
However, PR experts interviewed for this article said that while it is facing an uphill struggle, the government might still reap a positive outcome.
They say that while media typically devote attention on controversy and criticism in the run-up to the games, their successful conduct can make this quickly forgotten.
"In the Olympic cycle you typically get a dip in confidence around a year before the start," said Dan Timms, who was the British government's head of communications for the 2012 London Summer Games, and who now works for Portland, a London-based communications agency.
