Rio Olympics 2016: Russia to Expect Decision on Olympic Games Ban on Sunday

International Olympic Committee may set blanket ban on Russian athletes for state-sponsored doping.

By Lee Mijares, CP Contributor Thursday, July 21, 2016

Russian Olympic officials are expecting a final decision from the International Olympic Committee by Sunday on whether the country's entire delegation will be banned from joining the Rio Olympics next month. The IOC has investigated Russian athletes over suspicions of state-sponsored doping.

A blanket ban may even be in the works after the International Olympic Committee received a report from World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren. The IOC may consider an all-out ban since the report accused the ministry of sports of overseeing actual doping activities of their athletes.

Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said in an meeting that the issue will finally be resolved by the end of the week. He said that they did not discuss the report from the World Anti-Doping Agency during the meeting. He also did not rule out the possibility that a legal action may be sanctioned to the team and even the possibility of a total ban from the Rio games.

CAS to Issue Verdict on Thursday

Meanwhile, the Court of Arbitration for Sport will have their verdict for Russia's appeal on Thursday. Russia has filed an appeal to overturn IAAF's decision to ban their track and field athletes. The IOC will take into account the CAS ruling before it makes its final decision.

Russia is planning to reign over the track and field events. It has a total of 387 athletes in its delegation, and 68 are in various track and field events.

"Of course we hope for a CAS ruling in our favour," Zhukov said in a television interview. "It would be, I'd say, a serious precedent for the other federations' decisions."

Russia Will Not Boycott the Olympics

But no matter what happens, Zhukov said that Russia will never boycott the Olympics. He said that this will only breakup the Olympic movement. He plans to support the committee regardless of how the country's doping case turns out.

To recall, the Soviet Union boycotted the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 in an answer to the United States boycotting the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan before the Olympic games in 1980.

Scope of the McLaren Report

The McLaren report revealed that the state-sponsored doping by the Russian government was as far as 28 summer and winter Olympic sports events. Other doping officials urged the IOC to rule an unprecedented exclusion of the entire Russian team from the Rio Olympic Games. The IOC is also looking into disciplinary actions against the Russian sports ministry officials, including Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.