Russian Olympic athletes decisions to be made by Tuesday - reports
By Reuters
Last Updated: 02/08/16 2:01pm
Vitaly Mutko says all decisions about the participation of Russian athletes at the Rio Olympics will be made by Tuesday, according to reports in Russia.
The International Olympic Committee said on Saturday it would have the final say on which Russian athletes can compete at the Games, reviewing all rulings made by international sports federations over widespread doping allegations.
R-Sport news agency reported that the Russian sports minister said the decisions would be made by Tuesday - just three days before the Games are due to get underway.
In the wake of WADA's McLaren report, which recommended a blanket Russian ban for the Rio Olympics, the IOC invited international federations to decide if the Russian athletes in their sports were eligible to compete, with an independent panel set up to make a final decision.
So far, at least 117 individuals from the 387 that the Russian Olympic Committee wanted to enter have been excluded.
IOC president Thomas Bach has defended the organisation's handling of the doping crisis and said its credibility had not been damaged by the situation.
"I don't think this event will be damaging," he said. "I trust people will realise the difficult situation we are in. We did our best to address the situation in a way to protect clean athletes."
