The ITF was quick to do so and announced that the Russian team will be welcome to compete in Brazil.
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Russian Federation has been rocked by doping scandals that have seen its entire track and field team banned from worldwide competition and led to calls by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for Russian Federation to be banned from Rio over evidence of state-run doping.
In a statement, she said: “While this is exclusively a decision for the International Olympic Committee, the scale of the evidence in the McLaren report arguably pointed to the need for stronger sanctions rather than leaving it to the international federations at this late stage”. – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.
The ruling athletics body FIFA says it can assist other sports federations on the issue of eligibility for Russian athletes to compete at the Rio Olympics.
Bach said the International Olympic Committee was “expressing its gratitude” to Stepanova by inviting her and her husband to Rio as guests.
But Tygart said: “The decision to refuse her entry is incomprehensible and will undoubtedly deter whistle-blowers from coming forward”.
The IAAF has suspended the Russian athletics federation and turned down requests from 67 Russian athletes to compete in Rio, allowing only United States-based long-jumper Darya Klishina a place at the Games. “I am sure the national team will show good results at the Olympic Games and we will do everything to support them”.
Worldwide federations will have only days to process the Russian cases.
Bach has consistently argued against collective punishments in recent months, despite more information emerging about the scale of the cheating and the state’s central role in it.
In a statement, the IOC said it would accept the entry of only those Russian athletes who meet certain conditions set out for the 28 global federations to apply.
Russia’s pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva, who had vowed to end her career if all Russians were banned, wrote on Instagram: “I’m so sad I could cry from my own helplessness in the face of this lawlessness and anarchy”. However, the impact on the medal tally is likely to be less severe than the damage caused by the earlier ban on its track team, Russia’s most successful contingent in London four years ago.
Among those set to be ruled out are world champion swimmer Yulia Efimova; 2012 Olympic silver medal-winning weightlifter Tatyana Kashirina; and two-time Olympic bronze medal-winning cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya.
“We know the pros and the cons of a blanket ban, we know the risks of “collective justice”, but we also know the risk of not punishing a culture of doping that comes from the very top”, Rutherford told the Guardian.
Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov presented his case to the IOC board, promising full cooperation with investigations and guaranteeing “a complete and comprehensive restructuring of the Russian anti-doping system”.
“My question is this: If you treat the cancer by cutting off the patient’s head and killing him, do you consider this as a victory in the fight?” he said in remarks released later.
“The seven Russian tennis players who have been nominated to compete in Rio have been subject to a rigorous anti-doping testing programme outside Russia, which included a total of 205 samples collected since 2014”.
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“WADA is disappointed that the IOC did not heed WADA’s executive committee recommendations that were based on the outcomes of the McLaren Investigation and would have ensured a straightforward, strong and harmonised approach”, WADA president Craig Reedie said in a statement.
