Kremlin hails IOC decision to allow clean Russian athletes to compete in Rio

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday it welcomed the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which allowed clean Russian sportspeople to compete in next month's Rio Olympics. "Certainly, we welcome the main decision which allows the so-called clean athletes to take part in the Olympic Games, given the permission of international (sports) federations, and we believe that this is a positive decision," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists. The IOC's decision on Sunday followed the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) call for a blanket ban in response to the independent McLaren report that found evidence of state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)