Badminton body clears four Russians for Rio

LONDON: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has included four Russian players in the draws for the Olympics “pending the validation of the International Olympic Committee”. Following the IOC’s decision on Sunday not to issue a blanket ban on Russians despite evidence of systematic doping, global sporting federations have been left to decide which athletes can compete at the Rio Games. The BWF held the draws for the Rio Games on Tuesday and included Vladimir Malkov and Natalia Perminova in the men’s and women’s singles as well as the men’s doubles partnership of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov. The world athletics body has barred Russia.