The International Olympic Committee are keen to see Russian athletes at Rio 2016, despite numerous doping controversies, the nation's Olympic chief has claimed.

Russia's athletics federation (ARAF) was suspended by the IAAF last November, following allegations of state-sponsored doping made in a report from an independent commission established by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

A decision on whether the ban on Russian athletes should be lifted is expected in May, with the ARAF given a six-point list of criteria that must be met, but IOC president Thomas Bach has long outlined his desire to see the European nation compete in South America.

And when asked if the IOC were considering extending the IAAF's ban to Rio, Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) president Alexander Zhukov told Tass: "No. We share a common stance with Thomas Bach that all clean athletes must be taking part in the Games.

"Our other goal is to provide for the participation of our clean athletes [at the 2016 Olympics].

"We hope that our clean field and track athletes will be able to travel. We are working on it."