From Inside the Games
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has confirmed it will appeal the decision from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to restrict the country’s participation at major events, as punishment for the manipulation of the Moscow Laboratory data.
RUSADA Supervisory Board chairman Alexander Ivlev said the body would contest the range of sanctions handed down by WADA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), following its meeting in Moscow today.
Confirmation of the appeal – which must be filed by December 30 – came on the same day as Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annual press conference, where he claimed the sanctions from WADA were “unfair” and the decision “goes against common sense”.
RUSADA was declared non-compliant by the WADA Executive Committee last week, triggering a four-year package of punishments, including a ban on the Russian flag at the Olympic Games and World Championships.
Russia is also set to be stripped of World Championships it has been awarded and the country has been barred from bidding for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
However, Russian athletes who can prove they had no involvement in the doping scandal or the cover-up will be able to compete at major events as neutrals.
The implementation of the sanctions, imposed after WADA found data from the Moscow Laboratory had been tampered with before it was handed to the global watchdog in January, will be delayed following confirmation of the RUSADA appeal at CAS.
They will only come into force once CAS makes its final ruling in a case which is likely to drag on towards next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.