The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set up a special disciplinary commission to look into the findings by the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Independent Commission led by Richard McLaren regarding doping violations by Russian officials, the IOC said in a statement on Tuesday.

In particular, the IOC said it would explore legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the 2016 Olympics.

"The EB [Executive Board] has today started disciplinary actions related to the involvement of officials within the Russian Ministry of Sports and other persons mentioned in the report because of violations of the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code," the statement says.

World media outlets had reported earlier that the IOC had decided to postpone its decision as to whether Russian athletes can compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro until the next weekend.