Decision day for Russia as IOC rules on Rio Olympics ban

Russia is set to learn on Sunday whether it will be banned completely from next month’s Rio Olympics. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board is set to deliver one of the most momentous decisions in its history. British media reports suggest a blanket ban will be announced amid the state-sponsored doping scandal surrounding the Russian team. #DailyMail claims #IOC to ban Russian team from #Rio2016 Olympics https://t.co/vRxa2EAOiT #DopingScandal pic.twitter.com/wWF95aNpfZ— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) 24 juillet 2016 The path to a full ban appeared to open up last week when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the International Association of Athletics Federations’ ban on Russia’s track and field stars. But many individuals who have not failed drugs tests have denounced collective punishment. Such a ban would be humiliating for Olympic superpower Russia whose officials have said it would be part of a Western conspiracy. President Vladimir Putin has said the affair could split the Olympic Movement, bringing echoes of the 1980s when the United States led a political boycott of the Moscow Games of 1980 and the Soviet Union led an Eastern Bloc boycott of the Los Angeles Games four years later.