Moscow, Aug 4: Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to attend the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Friday evening (August 5), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Photo gallery; Opening Ceremony guide

The Kremlin spokesman did not clarify who will represent Russia at the governmental level, and recommended that this question be addressed to the ministerial cabinet, reports Tass.

"The president's schedule does not include such a trip, the same goes for the head of the administration," Peskov said on Thursday, adding that he had no information regarding other officials and government members.

Russian sailor eligible

Meanwhile, World Sailing, the sport's governing body, has reversed the ruling on Russia's Pavel Sozykin, making him eligible to compete at the Rio Olympic Games.

"Based upon the new guidance provided by the IOC, it was the unanimous decision of the participating World Sailing Board Members to declare Sozykin eligible to compete in Rio 2016," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

World Sailing has communicated its decision to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Russian Olympic Committee.

The IOC provided the new guidance on Tuesday to all summer International Federations indicating that an athlete should not be considered as "implicated" if the McLaren list does not refer to a prohibited substance which would have given rise to an anti-doping rules violation, reports Xinhua.

World Sailing said last month that Sozykin had been denied eligibility for the Rio Games because of the so-called McLaren report by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).

IANS