(sources statement to IAAF, adds Putin)

* IAAF says ban on Russian athletes will stand

* Statement in reply to letter from sports minister

* Putin says political campaign waged against Russia

July 27 (Reuters) - The global governing body for athletics on Wednesday stood behind its ban on Russia's track and field athletes competing at the Rio Olympics, effectively leaving all paths trodden in Moscow's attempts to get them readmitted.

Confirmation of the ban, announced by the IAAF after Russia's sports minister sought its revocation, was discriminatory and amounted to a political campaign waged against Russian sportspeople, President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) imposed the ban in November for systematic state-sponsored doping.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld that decision last week.

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko wrote to the IAAF on Monday to get the ban overturned. But there were "no grounds for further review", the organisation said on Wednesday.

"The applications by 68 athletes for eligibility to compete in Rio were assessed carefully and on an individual basis by the IAAF Doping Review Board," the IAAF said in a statement.

"Only (long jumper Darya Klishina) ...was found to meet the criteria for exceptional eligibility. CAS considered the appeals of the (other) 67 athletes fully and rejected them."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected calls to impose a blanket ban on Russians competing at the Rio Games after the independent McLaren report found evidence of state-sponsored doping in the Sochi Olympics.

(Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by John Stonestreet) ((Nivedita.Shankar@thomsonreuters.com; +918067498859;))