Russian and Kenyans need individual permission for Rio, IOC rules
By Paul Vinnell
Last Updated: 21/06/16 4:42pm
Russians and Kenyans in all sports must seek individual permission to compete in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee has ruled.
The "presumption of innocence" no longer applies to the countries' Olympic sportspeople in the wake of their non-compliance with World Anti-Doping Agency rules, according to IOC president Thomas Bach.
And all potential competitors must now undergo an assessment by their sports' international federations before places in Rio are rubber-stamped.
The IOC also offered "respect, approval and support" for the International Association of Athletics Federation blanket ban on Russian track-and-field athletes going to this summer's Olympic Games.
Russian Olympic chief Aleksander Zhukov has called that ban "legally indefensible" and suggested clean athletes will take their fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Bach says any athlete who succeeds with an appeal to CAS or is cleared by the IAAF will be allowed to compete under the Russian flag.
Speaking after the IOC summit Bach said: "The conclusion of the summit was that this non-compliance declaration, and the substantial allegations related to it, put very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence for athletes coming from these two countries.
"Therefore, each athlete coming from these two countries will have to be declared eligible by their respective international federation following an individual procedure and evaluation of the situation.
"And in this individual evaluation, tests from laboratories that are tainted or non-compliant, cannot be taken into consideration.
"The respective [international federation] will have to take into account other reliable tests, that means international tests, or tests supervised by international authorities."
