The Russian Olympic team, hard-hit by a series of doping bans, has gathered at an airport in Moscow to fly to Brazil for the Rio Olympics. They were greeted by public at the Sheremetyevo Airport. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had recommended that Russia be banned from the Games after releasing a report into state-sponsored doping. But, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) left it up to the individual sports federations to decide. IOC's decision not to act on WADA's recommendation was strongly criticised, with WADA chief Olivier Niggli saying the move would mean lesser protection for clean athletes.