Russia to appeal WADA ban

The head of the supervisory board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), Alexander Ivlev, told reporters in Moscow on Thursday that it had "made a decision not to agree" with the four-year ban handed down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on December 9. Ivlev said RUSADA would likely refer the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the next 10-15 days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also weighed in on the issue at his annual press conference on Thursday, describing it as "not only unjust, but also not corresponding with common sense or law."

The suspension came after WADA found that data it had received from RUSADA earlier this year as part of its compliance reinstatement process had been tampered with.

Under the ban, Russian athletes are barred from competing in what WADA defines as "major international sporting events," including Olympic Games and the World Cup for the next four years. The ban doesn't apply to what WADA regards as regional competitions, such next summer's European football championship, in which St. Petersburg is to host four matches.

Despite the sanction, individual Russians will still be allowed to compete at the Olympics in Tokyo next year and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, but only under a neutral flag and if they can demonstrate that they were not part of what WADA believes was a state-sponsored system of doping.

pfd/jt (AFP, dpa, AP)