Russian athletes will not be able to compete at Rio 2016 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport backed a decision to ban them over the country’s alleged state-sponsored doping regime, the BBC reports.

Russia’s athletics federation was suspended by the sport’s world governing body, the IAAF, after an independent report found evidence of widespread doping.

The Russian Olympic Committee and 68 athletes appealed against that decision but after hearing evidence from both sides, Cas has ruled the ban can stand.

Separately, the International Olympic Committee is considering calls to ban all Russian competitors from the Olympic Games following a second report into state-sponsored doping.