WADA Bans Russia for Four Years

(ATR) Russian athletes are banned from competing under the Russian Federation flag at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Committee unanimously accepted a recommendation from its Compliance Review Committee to ban Russia from major international competitions for four years. The decision came at a meeting Monday in Lausanne.

A decision by Russia on whether to challenge the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) should be made within 10 days.

Russian Olympic Committee president Stanislav Pozdnyakov says the Supervisory Board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will meet within 10 days to determine if an appeal will be pursued.

He reiterated that "the sanctions are inadequate, illogical and excessive", while adding"We are convinced that Russian athletes should go to the Olympic Games in Tokyo as part of a team that will be formed by the National Olympic Committee, as recorded in the Olympic Charter."

Russian officials have 21 days to appeal the verdict to CAS.

WADA President Craig Reedie made it clear that Russia deserves the sanctions handed out on Monday.

"For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport. The blatant breach by the Russian authorities of RUSADA’s reinstatement conditions, approved by the ExCo in September 2018, demanded a robust response. That is exactly what has been delivered today," Reedie said in a statement.

"Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and re-join the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial."

IOC president Thomas Bach stated last week that it is mandatory for the IOC to follow the decision taken by the WADA Executive Committee.

In addition to Russian athletes being banned from competing at the next two Olympics and other major international competitions including the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Russian government and sports officials will also be barred from attending these events. Russia would also not be allowed to bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics.

Russia athletes who can prove to WADA’s satisfaction that they are clean and were not part of a state-sponsored system of doping will be eligible to compete as independent athletes under a neutral flag as was the case at PyeongChang 2018.

The CRC recommendations to ban Russia were based upon its determination that doping data from RUSADA's Moscow lab had been manipulated and falsified. The information was handed over to WADA investigators in January.

Russian sport minister Pavel Kolobkov has attributed the discrepancies to technical issues.

RUSADA has previously been suspended for what has been determined as a vast state-supported doping system unveiled in a 2015 WADA-commissioned report.

Russia was reinstated by WADA in September 2018 with one of the conditions being full disclosure of doping data from the Moscow lab.

On Saturday, Reedie delivered a presentation to the Olympic Summit – a gathering of key Olympic leaders and stakeholders – regarding the forthcoming WADA Executive Committee decision.

The participants at the Olympic Summit in Lausanne strongly condemned those responsible for the manipulation of data from the Moscow lab before it was transferred to WADA. It was unanimously agreed that this was an attack on the integrity of sport and the toughest sanctions should be imposed upon those responsible. The participants stressed that full justice must finally take place and the guilty ones properly punished, while the innocent ones are fully protected.

Written by Brian Pinelli

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