A World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision on whether to let the Rio doping laboratory reopen could also hamper International Olympic Committee preparations.
"It's an incredibly important week that could crack the unity built up on doping," an international sports federation president who is also a senior IOC member told AFP.
A report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren has caused divisions before it is even released in Toronto on Monday with the United States and Canada leading calls for a potential complete ban on Russia from the Rio Games which start on August 5.
The Canadian investigator said in June that the early results of his work had found "credible and verifiable" evidence to back the allegations made to the New York Times by Rodchenkov who is now in hiding in the United States. He is wanted by the Russian authorities who have strongly denied any state role in doping.
- Corruption and subversion -
Paul Melia, president of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, which carries out anti-doping efforts in Canada, said countries must be ready to ban Russia completely from Rio if the McLaren report confirms the Rodchenkov allegations.
Melia said in a blog that the report "could paint an unprecedented picture of state-supported corruption and subversion of the anti-doping system" in Russia.
"If Monday's report confirms the Rodchenkov allegations, then the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will have no choice but to ban all Russian athletes from this summer's Olympic Summer Games in Rio," Melia wrote. "And it must be the same consequence for the Russian contingent at the Paralympics in September."
"This letter calls upon the IOC to instigate a wholesale ban of the Russian Olympic Committee team in Rio 2016," according to Hickey.
- 'Interference' -
==================
"My concern is that there seems to have been an attempt to agree an outcome before any evidence has been presented," Hickey said.
"Such interference and calls ahead of the McLaren Report publication are totally against internationally recognised fair legal process and may have completely undermined the integrity and therefore the credibility of this important report.
"Any proposal for a blanket Russian ban would cause a major split within the IOC," the international federation president commented to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Despite Hickey's comments, some European countries are known to support a ban. IOC president Thomas Bach only said last week that the Olympic movement would wait for the report before making a decision.
Russia is already barred from international athletics by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) could rule as early as Tuesday on an appeal by 68 Russian athletes who say they should be allowed to compete in Rio.
Pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva is among the 68 hoping for a last-minute ticket to Rio from CAS.
Whistleblower and 800 metres runner Yuliya Stepanova, who has refused to race for Russia, must wait to see if an Olympic ethics board accepts her request to take part as a neutral.
With the Rio countdown becoming more urgent, the IOC also faces having to send thousands of Games samples out of Brazil for testing unless WADA renews the licence for the Rio de Janeiro anti-doping laboratory.
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