Bird & Bird has advised the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on its legal dispute with Russian athletes and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), over its decision to ban Russian athletes from the upcoming Rio Olympics because of doping offences.

The firm represented the athletics body in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the ROC and a group of athletes appealed the decision to ban them.

Sixty-eight Russian athletes and the ROC attempted to overturn the suspension but it was announced today that the ban would remain.

Jonathan Taylor, partner at Bird & Bird and its head of sport, acted for the IAAF at CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Russian athletes and the Russian Olympic committee were advised by Mike Morgan, partner at London-based firm Morgan Sports Law and Howard Jacobs, a sole legal practitioner from California.

The CAS panel has given its decision but not released its full reasoning.

Whether the Russian athletes or the ROC will appeal this decision is still unknown. Morgan said: "We will await receipt of the written reasons for the award before we decide our next steps."

The ban will still allow some athletes to compete as neutrals at the games, which are due to start on 5 August.

It comes at the same time as the International Olympic Committee is debating whether to ban Russia entirely following the release of the McLaren Report, which found Russia had undertaken a wide-ranging doping programme at the Sochi winter Olympics and other games.