In defence of his board’s decision, Bach said: “We have reversed the presumption of innocence for Russian athletes, making them assume collective responsibility”.
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“The decision regarding Russian participation and the confusing mess left in its wake is a significant blow to the rights of clean athletes”, Tygart added.
But speaking on a media call, Bach added that “this is not about expectations – this is about doing justice to clean athletes all over the world”.
The IOC said it needed to seek out legal path to a collective ban after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday rejected the appeal by Russian track and field federation and 67 athletes against their Olympic exclusion.
The IOC ethics commission said: “It is true that Mrs Stepanova’s testimony and public statements have made a contribution to the protection and promotion of clean athletes, fair play and the integrity and authenticity of sport”.
The International Association of Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe said that IAAF was ready to give advice to any international sport federation concerning admission of Russian athletes.
Never has a country been kicked out of the Olympics for doping violations.
IOC clarified that an athlete must provide evidence to the full satisfaction of his or her global federation to gain entry into the Olympic Games starting on August 5.
He said he hoped that the majority of sports federations will support the right of Russian athletes to compete in the Games.
Under-fire International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach announced the result of his board’s emergency meeting in a hastily-arranged teleconference.
Stepanova has previously failed a doping test and also did not satisfy the IOC’s “ethical requirements”.
“The entry of any Russian athlete ultimately accepted by the International Olympic Committee will be subject to a rigorous additional out-of-competition testing programme in coordination with the relevant IF and WADA”. The IOC said it would propose measures for more transparency and independence. “In response to the most important moment for clean athletes and the integrity of the Olympic Games, the IOC has refused to take decisive leadership”, Tygart said in a statement posted on the USADA Twitter feed.
“The IOC has had to take a very hard decision with regards to the timing as the qualification procedure and the entry procedure for Rio is well under way”, Bach said.
Fourth, the IFs to examine the information contained in the Independent Person (IP) Report, and for such goal seek from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) the names of athletes and National Federations (NFs) implicated.
“We are thankful to the International Olympic Committee for allowing Russian athletes to compete at the Rio Olympics”, Tass quoted Mutko as saying.
But Bach, a trained lawyer, has perhaps created more uncertainty with the decision to block Russian Federation from proposing any athlete who has served a ban before.
One athlete who may consider fighting the “double punishment” is 800m runner Yuliya Stepanova, one of only two Russians to be cleared to compete by the IAAF who finds herself banned again by the IOC.
Short of a complete ban, the International Olympic Committee could let individual sports federations decide whether to allow Russian athletes in their events.
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Anti-doping leaders had argued that the extent of state-backed doping in Russian Federation had tainted the country’s entire sports system, and the only way to ensure a level playing field was to bar the whole team, even if some innocent athletes will lose out.
