IOC mulls 'options' as Russia made to wait on Rio fate

Lausanne : The IOC said Tuesday it would study "legal options" before deciding whether to ban Russia from the Rio Games and barred sports minister Vitaly Mutko, acting on a bombshell report detailing rampant state-run doping.

The International Olympic Committee also said that it would not give backing to or organise any international events in Russia because of the deepening scandal, but had to put back a decision on whether to block Russia from the Rio Games, which start in just over two weeks.

WADA and several countries have called for Russia to be banned from international competition, starting with Rio, for what IOC president Thomas Bach called a "shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games".

The executive board of the IOC, which is under pressure to act, held emergency talks Tuesday on the inquiry commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) into state doping at the Sochi Winter Olympics and other major events in Russia.

The IOC -- which faces a race against the clock to reach a final decision on Russians in Rio -- said it "will explore the legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the Olympic Games 2016 versus the right to individual justice".

It is also waiting on a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling on Thursday on an appeal by 68 Russians against an IAAF ban from the Rio athletics competition.