Russia was handed a four-year ban in December 2019 after allegations that falsified lab data was sent to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigators by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).
Russia had appealed the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, and while the court reduced the ban from four to two years, the decision still means Russian athletes will be prevented from competing under their nation’s flag at major international events including next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022 (should the team qualify).
In a statement issued on Thursday, CAS wrote: “The CAS Panel unanimously determined RUSADA to be non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) in connection with its failure to procure the delivery of the authentic LIMS data (Laboratory Information Management System) and underlying analytical data of the former Moscow Laboratory to WADA.
“As a consequence, the Panel issued a number of orders which come into effect on 17 December 2020 for a period of two years, i.e. until 16 December 2022.”