Russian Federation says final decision on Olympic ban expected Sunday

In a leaked letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the officials from the USA and Canadian anti-doping agencies call for a complete ban on Russians if the Sochi report compiled by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren is damning.

Its decision on whether to ban Russia will also be informed by a ruling due tomorrow by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Russia’s appeal against an existing ban from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on its track and field athletes taking part in Rio.

“FIG is concerned about the increasing number of officials asking for a blanket ban of Russian athletes to participate at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio”, the sport’s governing body said in a statement.

Swimming’s world body FINA said: “FINA is also concerned that there has been a drive behind the scenes.to get a global coalition.to support the call for the total ban on Russian Federation”. “It would be, I’d say, a serious precedent for the other federations’ decisions”.

With regard to the participation of Russian athletes in Brazil, the International Olympic Committee said it would “carefully evaluate” the report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The crisis has intensified tensions between Russian Federation and other countries that will compete at Rio, with President Putin warning of a “dangerous return” to the 1980s, when the USA and Russian Federation boycotted the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics respectively.

The IOC executive board held a meeting by teleconference on Tuesday to consider its steps in the wake of the McLaren report, which found that 28 summer and winter Olympic sports were affected by state-operated cheating in Russian Federation.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is taking legal advice on whether it can ban an entire country from the Games – just weeks before the opening ceremony.

The IOC also started disciplinary action against Russian sports ministry officials and others implicated in McLaren’s report, and said they would be denied accreditation for the Rio Games.

The IOC is expected to hold another executive board meeting in the next few days, possibly on Sunday, to consider whether to ban the Russian team.

A Russian diplomatic source said Wednesday that the current scandal “came against the backdrop of Washington calling for two years for Russia to be isolated, politically, economically and not in sports”.

The McLaren report stated urine samples collected from Russian competitors were manipulated in the “vast majority” of summer and winter Olympic sports from 2011 to August 2015.