Russia Not Given Blanket Ban by IOC for Rio 2016 Olympics Despite Recommendation

The repercussions of Russia's alleged athletic doping scandal may be reaching their apex. World Anti-Doping Agency officials recommended on July 18 that the nation be prohibited from participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, according to Reuters, via BBC's Richard Conway.

However, the IOC revealed on Sunday, per the Associated Press, that Russia was not given a blanket ban.

Rebecca R. Ruiz of the New York Times first reported on July 16 that at least 20 athlete groups and 10 national anti-doping organizations are expected to implore Olympic organizers to ban Russia from the Summer Games. 

Among the countries that have joined the cause are the United States, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, per Ruiz.

Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said on July 20 that “the issue will be finally resolved by the end of this week," via the Associated Press (h/t NBC Sports).

In May, Ruiz and Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times asserted that Russia, while hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, orchestrated a state-run doping program, which helped the nation to immense success. Russia won the medal race that year with 13 gold medals and 33 in total.

Ruiz reported on July 18 that evidence based on the claims of former Russian anti-doping lab director Grigory Rodchenkov has confirmed that Russia ordered the cheating: 

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A report published by the global antidoping agency on Monday morning concluded that his claims were true and that evidence indicated the state-run doping program was executed before and after the Sochi Games.

The report was produced by Richard McLaren, a Canadian lawyer commissioned by the antidoping organization. He wrote that his investigation had established “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Russia’s ministry of sport, its antidoping organization and the country’s federal security service were involved in an elaborate cheating scheme that stretched beyond the Sochi Games.

“The surprise result of the Sochi investigation was the revelation of the extent of State oversight and directed control of the Moscow laboratory in processing, and covering up urine samples of Russian athletes from virtually all sports before and after the Sochi Games,” Mr. McLaren wrote in the report.

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Rodchenkov said he created a mixture of three performance-enhancing drugs and liquor and provided it to Russian athletes ahead of the Sochi Games.

As Ruiz also indicated in a separate report on July 16, the World Anti-Doping Agency commissioned an investigation into Rodchenkov's claims.

"It seems very likely that the report will confirm what will be one of the biggest doping scandals in history, implicating the Russian government in a massive conspiracy against the clean athletes of the world," Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations CEO Joseph de Pencier said, per Ruiz. "This will be a 'watershed moment' for clean sport."

In late June, one of the most prominent Russian athletes, tennis star Maria Sharapova, was assessed a two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation for a positive meldonium test. WADA suspended Russia's Anti-Doping Agency in November because of noncompliance, which means RUSADA can't "conduct operations until they reinstall quality anti-doping programs."

In December, Russian cities Cheboksary and Kazan were denied the right to host the 2016 IAAF World Championships.

WADA conducted an investigation through an independent commission into Russia's state-sponsored doping in November, yielding a 325-page review that unearthed a "deeply rooted culture of cheating."

The Russian track team has already been banned from competing in Rio, a city that is having its own problems with doping. WADA suspended Rio's drug-testing lab in June after the discovery of technical errors.