Russia's Rio Games hopes left hanging in the balance
The International Olympic Committee met Tuesday to discuss the prospect of completely banning Russia from the Rio Olympics, which begins in less than three weeks, following a scathing report that confirmed Russia's state-sponsored doping program.
In the end, however, the committee punted, saying only that it would continue to "explore legal options" it had to respond to the damning report's findings.
"With regard to the participation of Russian athletes in the OlympicGames Rio 2016, the IOC will carefully evaluate the IP Report," said the global sports body. "It will explore the legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the Olympic Games 2016 versus the right to individual justice."
The IOC did say it would not organize or back any sports events or meetings in Russia as a result of doping scandal.
This year's Olympic motto is "faster, higher, stronger," but the independent investigation into the doping found that the Russians used another three-word phrase: "disappearing positive methodology."
What does this mean? They cheated, reports CBS News correspondent Phillips.
According to the investigation, the Russians were so intent on topping the medal table at the Sochi Winter Games, they put in place a sophisticated system to cover up drug use by their athletes. And they did it in their drug testing labs -- an operation right out of the Cold War spycraft manual.
"The Russian Ministry of Sport directed, controlled and oversaw the manipulation of athletes' analytical results, sample swapping and the active participation and assistance of the FSB," said Richard MacLaren, a Canadian sports lawyer who headed the inquiry.
The testing lab was supposed to be secure, but it wasn't. The FSB -- the old KGB -- moved in right next door. And a hole -- the so-called "mouse hole" -- was drilled between the two. Samples showing drug use from Russian athletes were passed out and clean replacement samples were passed back in - hence, the disappearing positive methodology.
The cheating wasn't just at Sochi, but involved more than 500 tests in almost 30 sports over a number of years. The question is, what to do now.
"It's unprecedented. A new level of criminality and the only way you can restore the promise of the Olympic dreams is to exclude the Russian delegation from the Olympics and give individual athletes who can prove that they were not part of the system an opportunity to compete under a neutral flag," said Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
This is a lot to ask in the 17 days between now and the opening of the Rio games.
The IOC remains under pressure to act, but Phillips notes the Olympics have never liked blanket bans, saying they penalize the innocent along with the guilty.