The IOC’s announcement follows the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) call for a Rio ban in response to the independent McLaren report that found evidence of widespread statesponsored doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
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The IOC’s president Thomas Bach said that the decision balanced “the desire and need for collective responsibility” with “the right to individual justice for every individual athlete”.
Competitors who want to take part in the games in Rio must meet strict criteria “to the full satisfaction of his of her worldwide federation” they are drug-free, the IOC said in a release The IOC said “the absence of a positive national anti-doping test can not be considered sufficient by the IFs”.
“Many, including clean athletes and whistleblowers, have demonstrated courage and strength in confronting a culture of state-supported doping and corruption within Russian Federation”.
The IAAF meanwhile offered to lend its expertise to other federations, having already opted to ban Russian track and field competitors from Rio, a move upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following a Russian Olympic Committee appeal last week.
However, individual Russian athletes had hoped they might be allowed to compete under a neutral flag if they can prove they are clean.
According to Mutko, the Russian athletes of the national team would apply to IFs with renegotiations to be carried out quickly.
The International Tennis Federation quickly confirmed on Sunday that Russia’s seven nominated tennis players meet the IOC requirements, having been subjected to “a rigorous anti-doping testing programme outside Russia”.
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio begin on August 5.
That report, produced by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, described a campaign of doping and cover-ups over a span of time that centers on the Sochi Winter Olympics hosted by Russian Federation in 2014.
The decision not to ban Russian Federation from the Rio Olympics has “disappointed” former UK Athletics president Lynn Davies.
Following the IOC decision regarding Russian athletes at the Games, the IAAF released a statement announcing that it is ready to “offer assistance” to other global federations going through the process of deciding whether athletes from that country may take part in their sport at the Games. Bach said the findings showed a “shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games” and declared the IOC “will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organization implicated”.
The ban was issued provisionally in November over doping allegations against Russian Federation and was upheld last month, as the IAAF said Russian Federation was not doing enough to address the issue. Thursday (21 July) global sports court dismiss the appeal and upheld the ban.
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Instead the responsibility will lie with the athlete’s respective sporting federations.
