IOC President Bach Defends Decision on Russia

IOC President Thomas Bach has defended the committee's decision not to ban Russia's entire Olympic team and says the country's doping scandal will not damage the credibility of the Rio de Janeiro Games.

Bach says a total ban on Russia "would not be justifiable" on either moral or legal grounds "because every human being is entitled to certain rights of natural justice."

Bach says the IOC "set a very high bar" by imposing strict criteria for international sports federations to apply in deciding which individual Russian athletes should be cleared to compete at the Rio Games, which open on Friday.

Asked how damaging the situation is, Bach replied: "I don't think that this, in the end, will be damaging because people will realize we have to take this decision now."

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