IOC leaves doping ‘mess’ as Rio Olympics loom

The International Olympic Committee’s refusal to ban Russia from the Rio Games has been widely condemned.

Despite calls for Russia to be thrown out of the Games for running a state-directed doping programme, the IOC’s executive board opted against a blanket ban and asked each sport to vet proposed Russian competitors individually.

Under-fire IOC president Thomas Bach announced the result of his board’s emergency meeting in a hastily- arranged teleconference.