Russia set to miss next two Olympic Games due to doping ban

Russia set to miss next two Olympic Games due to doping ban

Russia was banned from using its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympic Games and all World Championships for the next two years. The ruling was made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the same also blocked Russia from any sort of bidding to host a sporting event for the same period of two years.

Despite the ruling, Russian athletes will be allowed to take part without representing the Russian nation but rather the sporting federation they are a part of, at all the Olympic Games including the Tokyo Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022. The same will also be allowed for all world championship events including the FIFA World Cup in 2022 in Qatar. This would be allowed only if they haven’t been involved in a doping violation or the sabotage of test results.

Punishment halved from initial 4-year ban

Doping (Representational Image)

The positive result from the hearing for Russia was that initially the period of ban that was proposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency was 4 years. The CAS has now halved it to two. Another positive is that Russian athletes will be allowed to use the name ‘Russia’ on their uniforms if their uniforms also make it clear and equally prominent that they are from a ‘Neutral Team’ or are a ‘Neutral Athlete’.

The case of doping violations and cover-ups in Russia has been raging in the news since the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. Allegations (which were proved) that Russia had tampered with and sabotaged data from a testing lab whose results were supposed to be handed over to WADA led to increased scrutiny and investigation.

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