Scrutiny on global sport bodies as they decide Russians' Olympic fates

NO BAN

The IOC was widely expected to ban Russian competitors from Rio last week after the World Anti-doping Agency concluded that Moscow had run a state-sponsored campaign of doping.

But instead of a blanket ban, it put the decision in the hands of the governing bodies of individual sports, saying each had its own rules and mechanisms for determining whether cheating took place. In several of those federations, Russian officials and businessmen play important roles.

So far, in addition to judo, tennis and shooting sport have announced that Russian competitors will not be blocked from the Olympics. At least three sports -- track and field, swimming and canoeing -- have banned Russians.

In the case of the International Shooting Sport Federation, one of the governing body's vice-presidents is Vladimir Lisin, who also serves as president of the Russian Shooting Union.

Lisin is the majority owner of Russia's No.1 steelmaker NLMK and, according to Forbes magazine, the 8th richest person in Russia with a net worth of $11.8 billion. He is also vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee.

The shooting federation said in a statement Lisin's role did not influence the decision on Russian competitors in Rio, and he was asked not to vote to avoid the appearance of a conflict.

Other sports governing bodies with high-profile Russian links include the International Fencing Federation, whose president is Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, and United World Wrestling, whose leader has family ties to a construction firm that has won state contracts in Russia.

The wrestling and fencing bodies have yet to announce their positions on Russian participation in the Olympics.