Bar Russia from Rio Games: officials

Toronto

THE world's leading anti-doping officials on Monday called for Russia to be barred from this summer's Rio Games after a damning report confirmed a Russian whistleblower's claims of government-ordered cheating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

The request by anti-doping officials was extraordinary, if not unprecedented, in the history of the Olympics. President Vladimir Putin responded defiantly as the possibility emerged that the Russian flag would not appear at the opening ceremony on Aug 5 in Rio de Janeiro.