WADA seeks four-year Russia ban over false doping data

The prospect of Russia being banned from next year’s Tokyo Olympics moved a step closer with charges racking up against Russia and the clock ticking ahead of next July’s Games.

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2014, file photo, a Russian skating fan holds the country's national flag over the Olympic rings before the men's 10,000-meter speedskating race at Adler Arena Skating Center during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Formed with good intentions, the World Anti-Doping Agency finds itself at a crossroads as it celebrates its 20th anniversary at a conference this week in Poland. It’s an agency riven with conflicts that have hindered its fight against drugs and exacerbated its 4-year-old struggle in the high-profile case against Russia. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

A key World Anti-Doping Agency panel has recommended Russian athletes be forced to compete as neutrals at next year’s Olympics in Tokyo and other major events.

WADA’s compliance review committee has recommended a four-year ban on hosting major events in Russia and a ban for the same period on flying the Russian flag at major competitions.

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A World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) panel has recommended Russia be hit with a four-year ban from sporting competition after falsifying laboratory data handed over to investigators. Picture: AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File

The WADA executive committee will rule on the recommendations on Dec. 9. That follows a lengthy investigation into lab data handed over by Russia in January. That was part of a deal to lift a suspension of the Russian anti-doping agency, and was meant to expose past cover-ups of drug use by Russian athletes. Instead, the WADA panel says data on hundreds of positive tests were removed.

More to come …