WADA bans Russia at Olympic events for four years
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has banned Russia from participating in all major sporting events for four years, including next year’s Tokyo Olympics-2020 in the capital of Japan and the FIFA World Cup -2022 in Qatar.
Since this decision, the flag and national anthem of Russia will not be in any big sporting events. However, the players who will be able to prove that they are not involved in doping will be able to participate under neutral flags.
This decision has been taken after disqualifying data given by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) laboratories in January this year.
Rusada now has 21 days to appeal against this decision and if it appeals, this appeal will be referred to the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS).
WADA vice president Linda Helleland said a four-year ban is not enough. She said, ‘I wanted a ban which should not be taken lightly. It is our responsibility to the clean players that we implement the ban strongly.’
Russia has been banned from playing as a nation since 2015. Even after this ban, however, Russia will be able to participate in Euro-2020 as the European Football Association UEFA is not counted among the big organizers of the game.
