Olympic chiefs will explore “legal options” over a blanket ban on Russian athletes at next month’s Summer Games in Rio, it was announced Tuesday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would weigh a collective ban versus “the right to individual justice” for athletes not implicated in the scandal. It will also retest Russian competitors and coaches involved in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, it said.
The IOC had been expected to rule Tuesday on whether Russia could compete at the Rio games, which begin in 17 days, after the World Anti-Doping Agency uncovered a state-run doping scheme that masked at least 312 positive tests. It urged a full ban of the Russian team.
However, the IOC’s decision was complicated by a separate process in which the Court of Arbitration for Sport — the final authority on world sports events — is considering a parallel appeal by 68 Russian track and field competitors who were already banned from Rio by their global governing body, the IAAF. The CAS is due to rule on their fate by Thursday.
“With regard to the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the IOC will carefully evaluate the [WADA] report,” the statement said.
Read NBC News and IOC’s official statement
