CAS rejects appeal of 13 Russians on the eve of Winter Olympics

Pyeongchang: A group of 13 Russians lost a last-ditch bid to beat their country's doping ban and take part in the Pyeongchang Olympics on Thursday, the day before the opening ceremony.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is also dealing with 47 other Russian appeals, said it "lacked jurisdiction" to deal with the six athletes and seven doctors, coaches and support staff.

CAS said separately that a decision over the 47 others attempting to gain late entry into the Olympics would be announced on Friday at 11:00 am (1400 GMT).

That will be just nine hours before the opening ceremony.

In December, the IOC suspended Russia over a state-sponsored doping conspiracy culminating in its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

But the IOC left open a loophole when it said a large group of "clean" Russian athletes could take part under a neutral flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia".

The CAS drew criticism last week when it lifted life Olympic bans imposed on 28 Russians. But when 15 of them applied to take part in Pyeongchang, the IOC refused to give them invitations.

Currently the Olympic Athletes from Russia number 168 - the fourth biggest team behind USA, Canada and Switzerland.