The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has barred Russia’s track-and-field federation from competing at the Olympics in Brazil this summer, after accusations of state-sponsored.

In November, Russia was suspended from all track and field events following an independent report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) which revealed a culture of cheating and even included the accusation that secret services were involved, as the Independent reports.

A new Wada report on Wednesday claimed that Russian athletes have continued to fail anti-doping tests and stated that drug officers were faced with a lack of compliance when attempting to carry out their duties.

This decision means that all Russian track-and-field athletes are barred from competing in Rio de Janeiro.

The Russian Sports Ministry says it “extremely disappointed” by the decision, adding: “We now appeal to the members of the International Olympic Committee to not only consider the impact that our athletes’ exclusion will have on their dreams and the people of Russia, but also that the Olympics themselves will be diminished by their absence.”

The decision is also likely to attract controversy as a number of clean athletes face bans for the actions of their colleagues.

Source: Independent