Decision on Russian athletes who can compete in Rio expected Tuesday

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

8 years ago

General view of athletes’ accommodation can be seen during a guided tour for journalists to the 2016 Rio Olympics Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 23, 2016. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko answers reporters after a meeting with the working group, the Bureau for the convention on anti-doping, at the Unesco headquarters in Paris, Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. (Michel Euler/AP)

A cat looks through a window of the Russian Olympic Committee building in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 24, 2016. The IOC has decided against a complete ban on Russian athletes from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The International Olympic Committee says it is leaving it up to global federations to decide which Russian athletes to accept in their sports. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

In this Feb. 18, 2014 file photo, a Russian skating fan holds the country’s national flag over the Olympic rings before the start of the men’s 10,000-meter speedskating race at Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The IOC’s ruling 15-member executive board will meet Sunday, July 24, 2016 via teleconference to weigh the unprecedented step of excluding Russia as a whole from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games because of systematic, state-sponsored cheating. (David J. Phillip/AP)

A representation of the Olympic rings is displayed in the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, July 23, 2016. (Leo Correa/AP)

RIO DE JANEIRO — Russia’s sports minister says a decision is expected in the next two days on which athletes will be allowed to compete in Rio de Janeiro.

Vitaly Mutko spoke during a visit to Paris-based UNESCO on Monday where he presented a report on what is being done in Russia to fight doping — after the World Anti-Doping Agency accused the Russian government of directing a vast cover-up.

Mutko insists “there is no state system of doping in Russia.”

The IOC won’t allow Russians to compete in Rio if they had previously been banned for doping, were implicated in the alleged cover-up or had not been tested often enough internationally.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.