Russia banned from all int'l sport for 4 years over doping failures

Russia banned from all int'l sport for 4 years over doping failures

PanARMENIAN.Net - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have issued Russia with a four-year blanket ban from international sporting competition, meaning the country will not be able to compete at the World Cup or either of the next two Olympic games, The Mail Online says.

Expert advisers had been urged to take a hard line with their punishment following ongoing doping allegations, and a lengthy ban has now been dished out.

Russia will have 21 days to appeal the huge ban, meaning the legal fallout from the decision is likely to continue over the coming months.

The International Olympic Committee have said they would be willing to allow Russian athletes who can prove they are clean to compete under a neutral flag, as at last year's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The news will come as a huge blow to the football team, though, who hosted the last World Cup in 2018 and made it to the quarter-finals, knocking Spain out along the way.

Russia had been braced for serious sanctions after a joint statement from WADA's influential athletes' committee urged tough steps to tackle the problem of doping.

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