scathing report outlining a state-sanctioned doping system in Russia prompted immediate calls for the nation's entire team to be sidelined from the Summer Games, raising the possibility that the Olympics could go on without a sports superpower for the first time since the 1980s.

The investigation released Monday confirmed a scheme run out of the anti-doping lab in Moscow that ensnared 28 summer and winter sports, from track to snowboarding to table tennis. It lasted at least four years and involved at least 312 positive tests that went unreported at the behest of higher-ups in the country's sports ministry.

"A mind-blowing level of corruption within both Russian sport and government," said Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

The World Anti-Doping Agency swiftly called for the International Olympic Committee to consider a full ban of the Russian team from the Summer Olympics, which start Aug. 5 in Rio de Janiero. IOC president Thomas Bach said the committee wouldn't hesitate to apply the toughest sanctions available.


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LONDON (AP) — Russia lost its appeal Thursday against the Olympic ban on its track and field athletes, a decision which could add pressure on the IOC to exclude the country entirely from next month's games in Rio de Janeiro.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal of 68 Russian athletes seeking to overturn the ban imposed by the IAAF following allegations of state-sponsored doping and cover-ups.

"Today's judgment has created a level playing field for athletes," world track and field's governing body said in a statement.

However, the arbitration court ruling did not necessarily settle the matter for good. The court stressed the decision is not binding on the International Olympic Committee, which has the final say as the supreme organizer of the games.


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