Russia decided on Thursday to contest its ban from major sporting events over doping violations, as President Vladimir Putin slammed its sidelining as unfair and insisted athletes should be able to compete under the national flag.
Russia’s RUSADA anti-doping agency “made a decision not to agree” with the four-year ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision, the head of RUSADA’s supervisory board, Alexander Ivlev, told journalists.
Putin appeared to indicate a lengthy legal battle loomed, as he addressed a throng of journalists in his annual press conference. “If WADA does not have any issues with our national Olympic committee our team must compete under its flag,” Putin said. He added that some events scheduled in Russia, namely the Euro 2020, which would partly be hosted by Saint-Petersburg, would go on since “the tickets have been sold”.In fact, Russia’s participation in Euro 2020 — and Saint Petersburg’s hosting of four matches — is not affected by the ban because it is not defined as a “major event” for anti-doping purposes.
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