DOPING: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided against a call to ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics Games, which start in 12 days, over the nation's doping record.
The IOC has offered athletes a lifeline by ruling that decisions on individual competitors will be left to the international sports federations. The ban on track and field competitors by the IAAF still stands.
The IOC's decision follows the World Anti-Doping Agency's call for a blanket ban in response to a report that found evidence of state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
IOC President Thomas Bach explains that new strict crtiteria for Russian athletes has been introduced but not a blanket ban. He released the above video statement to explain.