IOC rejects request to invite 15 Russian athletes to Winter Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rejected a request to invite 15 Russian athletes to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The 13 active athletes and two working in a support role were among a group of 28 whose doping bans had been overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday.

A statement released by the IOC on Monday outlined why the 15 athletes have been denied an invite to the games, citing the reasoning of the CAS behind the decision to overturn the ban "had not been made public."

"The decision of the CAS had not lifted the suspicion of doping, or given the panel sufficient confidence to recommend ... those 13 athletes could be considered as clean."

The IOC said the two coaches "should not be considered for an invitation" because of previous evidence available to the IOC.

Friday's opening of the Games has now been overshadowed by the decision of the CAS and the subsequent rejection by the IOC.

IOC President Thomas Bach called the CAS ruling "extremely disappointing and surprising" and said the Olympic body needed to see the "reasoned decisions" from the sport court. The court had said those might not be ready until the end of the month.

"The IOC, we would never have expected this," Bach said as uncertainty lingers over the Russian athletes. "We feel that this decision shows the urgent need for reforms in the internal structure of CAS."

"We only know about the reasons from a very few sentences in a press release," Bach added. "So far the panel was not able to produce a reasoned decision which we are eagerly waiting for."