Sport's highest tribunal on Thursday rejected Russia's appeal against a doping ban for its entire athletics team from the Rio Olympics starting in 15 days' time, drawing swift and angry condemnation from Moscow.
The decision by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) increases the possibility that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will now exclude Russia from all sports, not just track and field, in Rio de Janeiro.
The ban was imposed last November by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) after an independent report uncovered rampant state-sponsored doping in Russian athletics. It was maintained in June after the IAAF Council ruled that not enough progress had been made in transforming Russia's anti-doping program.
Russia had argued it had taken steps to clean up the sport, and that the blanket ban was unfair to individual athletes with no record of doping.
