AKIPRESS.COM - The World Anti-Doping Agency has voted unanimously to ban Russia from international sport for four years for doping offences.

Russia now have 21 days to appeal against the sentence, which would see the country banned from participating at next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo and the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

They will, however, still be able compete in next year’s European football championships, where they will also be one of the host countries. As for the World Cup, Fifa said it was in discussions with Wada “to clarify the extent of the decision”. Individual Russian athletes will furthermore be able to compete under a neutral banner at the Olympics, providing they can prove they are drug free. Under similar conditions, 30 Russians competed at this year’s World Athletics Championships as “Authorized Neutral Athletes”.

The new punishment was agreed by Wada’s executive committee (ExCo) at a special meeting convened at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is the most severe sanction yet against the country, which has been accused of running a systemic doping programme and deleting crucial laboratory evidence.