IOC faces historic call on Russia Rio ban

The International Olympic Committee held showdown talks Sunday on whether to ban Russia from the Rio Games over state-run doping, an unprecedented decision that could spark the Olympic movement's worst crisis in decades. An independent report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Russia's sports ministry directed a vast doping programme with support from the state intelligence agency that saw thousands of tainted urine samples destroyed or swapped for clean ones. The cheating affected 30 sports and went on during the 2014 Sochi Games and other major Olympic and international events, according to the WADA report released last week by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren.

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