THE British Olympic Association has backed the sanctions taken against Russia and Kenya ahead of the Rio Olympics.

Athletes from both countries will only be able to compete in Brazil if they pass an "individual evaluation" to prove they have not been doping.

The unprecedented step was unanimously agreed at an emergency summit convened by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne on Tuesday.

BOA chief executive Bill Sweeney said: "The BOA supports any measure that ensures clean athletes can have peace of mind when they go to the start line and that they compete equal to all others.

"The measures taken by the IAAF and supported by the IOC are both necessary and strong. In making these difficult decisions anyone that is doping, or is considering it, should take note - you will be caught and sanctioned.

"It is important that between now and the start of competition in Rio the whole of sport demonstrates its backing both for the anti-doping authorities and the advancement of clean sport education throughout the world."

The move by the IOC follows a ruling by the IAAF last week that Russian track and field athletes would face a blanket ban from competing in Rio due to continued doping issues involving the Russian Athletics Federation, ARAF.

Amid continued re-testing of samples from both the 2008 and 2012 Games, IOC president Thomas Bach went further on Tuesday, saying athletes from Russia and Kenya can no longer be "presumed innocent" due to evidence of testing irregularities.

Ben Hawes, chairman of the BOA Athletes' Commission, welcomed the developments, insisting the interests of clean athletes must continue to be protected.

Hawes said: "British athletes unanimously supported a widening of the investigation into doping both in Russia and beyond, as well as the re-testing of samples collected from previous Olympic Games.

"However, whilst retrospective action is welcome, too many athletes have lost their moments of glory due to those that chose to dope. This is why the IAAF decision is bold and timely.

"We believe there must now be a renewed proactive approach to rooting out those who are doping whilst handing out appropriate and meaningful sanctions.

"The athlete community has a duty to stand up and call out those who continue to cheat the system."

Athletes from Kenya and Russia, in all sports, will only be able to compete at the Rio Olympics if they have passed an "individual evaluation" to prove they have not been doping.

This unprecedented step was unanimously agreed at an emergency summit convened by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.

With the World Anti-Doping Agency declaring both Kenya and Russia "non-compliant" with its rules, IOC president Thomas Bach said athletes from those countries could no longer be "presumed innocent".

"The conclusion of the summit was that this non-compliance declaration, and the substantial allegations related to it, put very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence for athletes coming from these two countries," said Bach.

"Therefore, each athlete coming from these two countries will have to be declared eligible by their respective international federation following an individual procedure and evaluation of the situation.

"And in this individual evaluation, tests from laboratories that are tainted or non-compliant, cannot be taken into consideration.

"The respective [international federation] will have to take into account other reliable tests, that means international tests, or tests supervised by international authorities."

This decision represents an emphatic vote of confidence for the IAAF decision on Friday to maintain the ban on Russia's athletics federation.

Not only did this gathering of international sports federations, national Olympic committees and athletes' representatives support the IAAF stance in its own sphere of influence, it recommended it to the rest of the Olympic movement.

This represents a concerted effort to get behind WADA's attempt to enforce its Code – the set of anti-doping rules that are meant to govern most elite sports.

The Montreal-based agency has currently declared four countries' anti-doping agencies non-compliant with the Code but two of those, Mexico and Spain, are for largely administrative and legal reasons that are in the process of being rectified.

The situation in Kenya and Russia, however, is very different, as Bach pointed out.

"In Kenya, there were administrative issues that are about to be resolved," he said.

"But on top of this we've had in the last couple of months a lack of funding and – I hope I quote the president of the IAAF [Lord Coe] accurately here – an absence of national testing.

"So Kenya is considered to be a country where the non-compliance affects the doping controls. It is a lack of funding and attention.

"And in Russia, you have serious allegations about the manipulation of the anti-doping system.

"But they both lead to the same challenge and we have to ensure there is a level playing-field."

Bach called this Olympic Summit even before the IAAF met in Vienna last week to confirm that the All Russia Athletics Federation had failed to meet the "verification criteria" needed for reinstatement.

The key issue the summit was meant to address was the balance between collective punishments and individual justice, a dilemma the Olympic movement has been forced to ponder thanks to the remarkable level of cheating uncovered already in Russian sport, with the very real possibility of more to come.

A WADA-funded investigation uncovered the systemic cheating within Russia's athletics set-up last November and that led to the suspension of the Russian federation, anti-doping agency and anti-doping lab.

A second WADA-funded inquiry started last month into allegations of state-sponsored cheating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and its report is expected by July 15.

There is also an investigation into allegations of doping in Russian and Chinese swimming being conducted by that sport's international federation, and pressure is growing on the likes of weightlifting and wrestling to follow suit.

Russia's response to these allegations has initially been denial, only moving to remorse much later, with the caveat that all wrongdoing has been the responsibility of rogue individuals, not the group and certainly not the state.

Russian sports officials and athletes have already said they will fight the IAAF decision, which may result in just a handful of Russian athletes going to Rio in neutral colours, at the Court of Arbitration of Sport, which Bach said was their right.

He did not, however, address the suggestion that Russia might boycott the Rio Games in protest.