IOC slams Russia 'attack' after latest doping claims
The IOC has expressed its gratitude to Professor Richard McLaren after he gave his final verdict on allegations of doping in Russia.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has accused Russia of a "fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport in general" following the damning conclusion of the McLaren report.
Professor Richard McLaren on Friday claimed that over 1000 Russian athletes across 30 sports, including football, were involved in or benefited from state-sponsored doping in the second and final instalment of his report.
The Canadian lawyer, commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to produce the report, said Russia was guilty of "an institutional conspiracy" of doping dating back to at least 2011.
He reconfirmed the cover-ups reached an "unprecedented scale", with athletes competing in the Olympics, Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games over four years from 2011 identified as being involved in, or benefiting from, manipulations to conceal positive doping tests.
The IOC, criticised for not imposing a blanket ban on Russia for the Rio Olympics in August, released a statement which said: "The IOC thanks Professor McLaren and his team for the completed independent report and acknowledges the evidence produced.
"The detailed findings show that there was a fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and on sport in general."
The IOC also said it would re-analyse all 254 urine samples taken from Russian athletes who competed at the Sochi Winter Olympics two years ago.
Among the other accusations made by McLaren was that the Russian Olympic team corrupted the 2012 Games in London on an unprecedented scale which "may never be fully established".
Eleven Russians are among the athletes who competed in London to have already been sanctioned and the IOC has now extended the mandate of the disciplinary commission which was set up to examine samples collected from Russian athletes at the Games in the English capital.