The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) have banned Russia for four years from all major sporting events including Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2020 and the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing in 2022 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The decision was passed down by WADA in Lausanne, Switzerland today with a unanimous decision from the executive committee.
Athletes unaffected by the doping scandal will be able to compete under a neutral flag as they did in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018 when 168 “clean” Russian athletes competed without their national anthem.
Russia has 21 days to appeal.
The ban came after Russia’s Anti Doping Agency manipulated lab data in 2019, data they were ordered to regularly hand over after the nation’s three year suspension, again for doping, back in 2015.
If Russia chooses to appeal it will be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
