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

Read for instance Yahoo! Sports

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recommended that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) ban all Russian athletes, regardless of sport, from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The IOC said in a statement that it “will now carefully study the complex and detailed allegations.” It has called an emergency meeting for Tuesday to discuss and decide on the participation of Russian athletes in the upcoming Olympics.

“The findings of the report show a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in the statement. “Therefore, the IOC will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organisation implicated.”

See also WADA’s official press release:

The WADA Executive Committee’s key recommendations based on the McLaren Investigation Report are set out below. The necessary decisions should be taken by the relevant organizations based on their own rules and regulations.

1. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to consider, under their respective Charters, to decline entries, for Rio 2016, of all athletes submitted by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the Russian Paralympic Committee.
2. The International Federations (IFs) from sports implicated in the McLaren Report to consider their responsibilities under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) as far as their Russian National Federations (NFs) are concerned.
3. Russian government officials to be denied access to international competitions, including Rio 2016.
4. The Russian National Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to remain non-compliant under the Code and its staffing and independence to be further reviewed by WADA.
5. The accreditation process of the WADA-accredited laboratory in Moscow (Moscow laboratory) to be stopped.
6. The FIFA Ethics Committee to look into allegations concerning football and the role played by a member of its Executive Committee, Minister Vitaly Mutko.
7. Professor McLaren and his team to complete their mandate provided WADA can secure the funding that would be required.