Russia banned for 4 years from all global sporting events over doping

What's the story?

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has handed a four-year ban to Russia over the nation's attempts to breach the governing body's policy. The ban means that Russia will not be allowed to take part in the upcoming global events, which includes the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

The background

Russia has been in the news for all the wrong reasons ever since the world learned about its wrongdoings at the 2014 Winter Olympics, hosted by Sochi. The systematic cheating by the Russian officials in order to give their athletes a competitive advantage forced the world's anti-doping leaders to hand them a three-year suspension in December 2017.

During that mega-event in Sochi, the Russians had manipulated the urine samples of their athletes at the Moscow lab. However, the suspension was lifted in September 2018 after promises made by the Russian officials that they would adhere to certain conditions.

The heart of the matter

Russia failed to adhere to the conditions stipulated for their reinstatement, which is why the WADA took the extraordinary step of suspending them for a longer term.

The new ban rules Russia out of all the big sports event until 2023, which means the Russian athletes will not play under their nation's flag at the Tokyo Olympics. Besides, Russia cannot contest for the hosting rights of any event during the next four years.

Russia has 21 days' time to file a case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and it goes without saying that the officials will try to overturn the board's decision.

However, the Russian anti-doping chief does not believe that the nation has any chance of changing their fate. The chief also pointed out that this ban is a tragedy for the Russian athletes because they cannot play under their own flag, and there would also be no Russian national anthem at the global event next year.

What's next?

It will be intriguing to see if Russia can present a strong case in the court, because this ban will not only bar them from the Summer Olympics in Japan next year but also prevent the Russian football team from playing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup scheduled to take place in Qatar.

Russia had performed very well at the 2018 edition of football's biggest event, exceeding all expectations by reaching the quarterfinals. Being prevented from participating in the very next edition after such a spectacular show would be a huge blow to the country's football ecosystem.