IOC block 15 Russian athletes from Pyeongchang

The International Olympic Committee has rejected a request to invite 15 Russians to the Pyeongchang Winter Games just days after the athletes' doping bans were overturned by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 13 active athletes and two retired athletes working in support roles were among a group of 28 whose bans were overturned by CAS on Thursday. The ban on 11 other Russians was upheld.

In a statement on Monday, the IOC said part of its ruling was because 'the full reasoning for these decisions had not been made public' by CAS.

The IOC said 'the decision of the CAS had not lifted the suspicion of doping, or given the panel sufficient confidence to recommend... those 13 athletes could be considered as clean.'

The IOC said the two coaches 'should not be considered for an invitation' because of previous evidence available to the IOC.

The ruling by the sports court was a blow to the IOC and has shifted some of the focus away from Friday's opening of the Games in frigid South Korea with around 3,000 athletes participating.

On Sunday, IOC president Thomas Bach called the CAS ruling 'extremely disappointing and surprising' and said the Olympic body needed to see the 'reasoned decisions' from the sport court.

The court had said those might not be ready until the end of the month.

'The IOC, we would never have expected this,' Bach said as uncertainty lingers over the Russian athletes. 'We feel that this decision shows the urgent need for reforms in the internal structure of CAS.'

'We only know about the reasons from a very few sentences in a press release,' Bach added. 'So far the panel was not able to produce a reasoned decision which we are eagerly waiting for.'

John Coates, an IOC member and also the president of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport, tried to assure Bach the judicial reasoning would be forthcoming.

'The reasoned decisions in high profile cases are critically important,' Coates said. 'We look forward to their publication as soon as possible.'

The IOC has invited 169 Russians to compete in Pyeongchang as 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' under a neutral flag, but has said it reserves the right to review and appeal the CAS decision.

The Winter Olympics begins on Friday in Pyeongchang  with about 15 different sports including, Ice Hockey, Speed skating

Bobsleigh, Cross-country skiing among others on parade.

Nigerian trio of Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma Omeoga and Seun Adigun

will be showcasing their skills in the Bobsleigh event as the first Nigerians and Africans to feature in that event.

Other African countries competing in other events include Togo, Eritrea, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Madagascar and Morocco.