The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has said that a final ruling on the entry of Russian athletes in the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games will be announced later Thursday.
Speaking to reports in Rio, just a day before the opening of the games, Bach said that the seriousness of doping allegations placed in doubt the presumption of innocence for individual athletes.
Bach said that after a report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, which detailed an elaborate doping system in Russia directed by the sports ministry, the IOC asked international sports federations to decide which individual athletes could compete in Rio after a review of their doping records.
Meanwhile, Russia said that 265 to 270 Russian athletes were cleared to compete in Rio, out of the national Olympic team of 387 members.
In late July, international federations in canoeing and modern pentathlon ruled out seven athletes including an Olympic gold medalist, following earlier rulings in swimming and rowing.
The largest group of Russian athletes barred from the Rio Olympics has been in track and field, where 67 were ruled out when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on the Russian team.
