Russian athletes could run in Rio under their own flag

Thomas Bach IOC president at the 2016 Olympic flame lighting ceremony at Olympia in Greece #rio #rio2016 #2016 #olympic #olympia #olympicgames #riodejaneiro #brazil #roadtorio #roadtobrazil #greece #olympicflame #olympicspirit #priestess #thomasbach #ioc #iocpresident #rioorganisingcommitee #2010s #sunny #summer #olympics #carnival #torchrelay #olympictorch #olympictorchrelay #athens

A photo posted by Jacob Nellist (@jacobnellist1) on Apr 21, 2016 at 10:25am PDT

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach announced on Tuesday that Russian athletes could compete at the Rio Olympics if they are able to pass additional checks in regards to doping regulations. The IOC also announced that Kenyan athletes would need to go through extra tests.

The news comes after Friday’s announcement by the governing body for international athletics (IAAF) that the Russian athletics federation would be banned from the August Games as their suspension was upheld.

“The Olympic Summit considers the ‘presumption of innocence’ of athletes from these countries being put seriously into question,” the official statement reads from today’s summit in Lausanne, Switzerland. Because of this announcement, clean athletes that pass these screenings may be able to circumvent the ban.

RELATED: Here’s how eight athletes, including Lanni Marchant, reacted to the news of Russia’s ban.

The path forward remains unclear, however, as the IAAF has reportedly told sources (see below tweet) that they will not accept any appeals despite today’s news of the IOC resolutions.

IAAF tells CNN they will NOT accept appeals from Russian track & field athletes despite IOC declaration. CAS the only route back to Rio.

— Alex Thomas (@alexthomascnn) June 21, 2016

Wow. IAAF and IOC are at odds here. Of course, they’re not quite equals. https://t.co/DF4e2XGLba

— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) June 21, 2016

If the IAAF will not honour the IOC declaration, Russian athletes will go through the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international judicial body, to appeal their suspension from international competition.

Insidethegames.biz reports that the Russian athletes deemed eligible to compete will run under their own flag, which was confirmed by AFP.

#BREAKING Olympics: Athletes cleared by IAAF can compete under Russian flag in Rio – Bach

— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 21, 2016

International athletics has been rife with doping-related news of late including yesterday’s arrest of high-profiled coach Jama Aden for possession of performance-enhancing drugs banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Mo Farah, the double Olympic champion, is believed to have ties with the Somali coach.

RELATED: Does Mo Farah have ties to controversial coach, Jama Aden?

In addition to athletics, all of Russia’s athletes could be in jeopardy of missing the Olympics as the nation is being investigated for state-sponsored doping during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The blanket ban was recommended by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s president, Sir Craig Reedie.