The Audit Chamber, Russia's financial watchdog which prepared the report, said in a statement preparations were "inefficient, imperfect and involved corruption."

The probe had been ordered by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after Russia won just 15 medals in Vancouver, only three of which were gold, who demanded to know how the 3.3 billion roubles (£66 million/$100 million) budget for the team's preparations had been spent. 

"There were financial violations, they will be a subject of investigation by law enforcement agencies," said Alexander Zhukov, the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), who is also Russia's Deputy Prime Minister.

Medvedev had warned in March that if any evidence of corruption was uncovered then those suspected of being involved would be prosecuted.

The report criticised a number of uncompetitive tenders and alleged a number of firms charged millions of roubles without providing any value.

It also said there was no single organisation coordinating the many state bodies involved and that Russia spent the equivalent of 388 million rubles (£8.2 million/$12.5 million) for each Olympic medal it won in Vancouver.

The report came Putin visited a facility at Ozero Krugloye, which has been used by Russia's teams to train for major competitions since 2008.

Sports and Tourism Minister Vitaly Mutko briefed the Prime Minister about plans to upgrade the centre.

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