IOC says approved athletes can compete under Russian flag at Olympics
By Sky Sports News HQ
Last Updated: 23/06/16 6:01pm
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has insisted that clean Russian athletes, who can prove their innocence of doping, will compete at the Olympics under their own flag.
Track and field's governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), has said any Russian athletes seeking "exceptional" dispensation to compete in the Games in Rio in August would do so as neutral athletes.
However, the IOC says the IAAF's own guidelines mean that any Russian - or Kenyan - athletes it approves can represent their own country.
Point 9 of the guidelines state: "An athlete whose application is granted and has met all specified conditions will as a result hold special eligibility to compete in the International Competition(s) in question in an individual capacity, as a Neutral Athlete (as defined in the Competition Rules).
"However, in order to compete in that competition, in addition to complying with all of the other eligibility requirements under the Competition Rules, that athlete will still have to obtain an invitation to participate in the International Competition(s) in question, in line with the rules of the organisers of that competition."
As a result of this guideline the IOC stated: "At the Olympic Games, all Russian athletes (including the track and field athletes who would have been declared eligible by the IAAF) would have to be entered by the Russian Olympic Committee. They will therefore compete under the Russian flag."
Meanwhile, a group of Russian athletes announced on Thursday that they would be appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport next week to overturn the ban preventing their participation in the Olympics.
The IAAF last week upheld the ban, insisting that a "deep-seated culture of doping" remained in Russia.
