Twenty-eight Russian athletes have had their Olympic doping bans overturned and their results from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi reinstated.

It comes after their appeals were upheld by the Court of Arbitration for sport (CAS).

The Court said in a statement that it had found insufficient evidence that the 28, banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), were guilty of anti-doping violations in Sochi.

However, it is not clear yet whether any of the 28 will be able to compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in South Korea, which start on February 9.

Eleven other athletes were confirmed by the courts to have committed doping violations.

CAS, however, reduced their lifetime Olympic bans to a suspension from this year’s Games.

The IOC had previously banned Russia from Pyeongchang as a result of its “unprecedented systematic manipulation” of the anti-doping system.

It said the decision to overturn the Olympic life bans of the 28 Russian athletes “may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping.”

It also added the 28 would not necessarily be invited to Pyeongchang as “Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation.”

The confirmation of eleven cases “clearly demonstrates once more the existence of the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014,” it said.

The IOC regretted that CAS “did not take this proven existence of the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system into consideration for the other 28 cases.”