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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) unanimously agreed with the recommendations of the agency’s compliance review committee (CRC) and recognized there was data manipulation in the Moscow anti-doping laboratory. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has been recognized as not complying with the anti-doping code, which will entail a four-year suspension of Russian athletes from participating in the major sports events, such as the Olympics and the World Cup, R-Sport reports.
Earlier, CRC recommended that only Russian athletes who passed relevant anti-doping checks be allowed to participate in the Olympics and world championships. Athletes, who pass the tests, will be able to participate in major world competitions in the status of Authorised Neutral Athletes.
CRC also called for stripping Russia of the right to host international competitions for a period of the same four years. The ban on the Olympic Committee of Russia from attending the Olympics and world championships was also included in the sanction list.
The explanations and arguments presented by the Russian side did not change the decision of the WADA executive committee. Russian experts earlier claimed that the data from the Moscow laboratory had been changed from the United States, with its former executives involved in the testimony against Russia.
The decision made on December 9 does not apply to the European football championship, which will be held in 2020, member of RUSADA Supervisory Board Sergei Khrychikov said. The expert emphasized that the current compliance standard applied to world championships and the Olympic Games; it will be valid until 2021. In the new version of the standard, which will enter into force in 2021, continental tournaments will already be present. But in 2020, our team will still perform under its own flag.
Khrychikov recalled that RUSADA had 21 days to appeal. Further terms will depend on how soon the case will be considered in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The today's decision will enter into force only after the adoption of the final verdict, the four years period will also start counting after that moment.
Russkiy Mir
