The Brazilian believes Russia's volleyball teams should therefore be able to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, even if calls for a blanket ban intensify when Richard McLaren's report is published. 

Graça, who was elected as head of the FIVB in 2012, stressed he would not be in favour of Russian athletes being excluded from all sports competing at next month’s Games if allegations of a state-supported doping scheme at Sochi 2014 are proven.

Canadian lawyer McLaren, part of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Independent Commission whose reports sparked Russia's suspension from track and field at Rio 2016, is due to reveal the findings of his investigation in Toronto on Monday (July 18).

Russian competitors in track and field have been able to apply for eligibility for the Games despite the ban if they can prove they were tested outside of the nation.

Graça feels it would be difficult for the FIVB to follow the lead of the International Association of Athletics Federations because testing on Russian male and female players in his sport has been undertaken largely in Germany.

His claims come after Russian volleyball player Alexander Markin tested positive for meldonium earlier this year before he had his suspension lifted by the FIVB due to the low quantity of the heart-attack drug, added to WADA’s banned list ion January 1, in his sample.

“We have done the research and we don’t have any kind of doping in Russian volleyball players so I cannot punish them because of some other problems – it is not up to us,” he said here ahead of the FIVB World League final six semi-finals.

"All of the tests we have done on the Russian players were not done in Russia.

“All the samples were done in Germany so we are out of this problem.”

When asked whether he would support Russia being excluded from all sports at Rio 2016, he added: “For sure I would not."

The McLaren report will address accusations made by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the under-fire Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory before turning whistleblower, who alleged that up to 15 Russian medal winners at Sochi 2014 were implicated in a clandestine operation in which doping samples were switched for clean ones.

Rodchenkov, the subject of a criminal case from Russian Federal investigators, alleged that the state-sponsored scheme involved athletes ingesting a "three-drug cocktail" of banned steroids which were mixed with alcohol.

It also featured as a covert system to replace the urine of affected medal winners with clean samples using soda containers and baby bottles, he claimed.

WADA President Craig Reedie has vowed to respond “firmly and effectively” should Rodchenkov’s allegations be proven, admitting it would be a “high-profile moment that we will have to deal with".

His report is due to be released on Monday and could intensify calls for Russians to be completely banned from Rio 2016.