Three-person panel to decide on Russian entries for 2016 Olympics

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has announced that a three-person panel will vote on which Russian Federation athletes can compete at Rio 2016.

It was revealed last week that individual sports' governing bodies would have to decide themselves which competitors would be banned following allegations of state-sponsored doping.

Having controversially decided against imposing a blanket ban on all Russian athletes, the IOC has now put together a panel - made up of Ugur Erdener, Claudia Bokel and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr - to "accept or reject the final proposal" from those hoping to compete in the upcoming Games.

"We want to make it absolutely clear that we are the ones making the final call," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "We're working on a very, very tight timeline. It has to be finished by Friday at the very latest."

More than 250 Russian athletes have so far been given the green light to compete in the 2016 Olympics, which officially gets underway next Friday.