Russia may be barred from the Paralympics again

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s compliance review committee has recommended to the organization’s leaders they not recertify Russia — meaning the country would remain non-compliant with global sports’ accepted antidoping code — according to two people with knowledge of the committee’s ruling.

If the agency follows the committee’s counsel, the decision could result in Russia continuing to be barred from major events like the New York City Marathon, the world track and field championships and the Paralympics. The international governing bodies for track and field and the Paralympics have said they will not restore Russian athletes’ eligibility in their events until WADA has recertified the country’s antidoping agency.

The antidoping agency’s leaders will meet in Seoul, South Korea on Thursday and are likely to announce then that Russia remains non-compliant. While the designation of non-compliant directly affects Russia’s sovereignty over its antidoping program, it is largely a symbolic gesture. The antidoping agency does not have the authority to bring penalties against Russian athletes.

With less than three months before the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the International Olympic Committee is weighing how to handle Russia’s eligibility for the Games. The committee’s top leaders are expected to announce a decision Dec. 5.

Russia’s national antidoping agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The World Anti-Doping Agency first declared Russia non-compliant in 2015. The agency later issued what it called a road map to compliance. Among several requirements: Russian antidoping authorities must publicly accept the findings by the Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, whose investigation determined that Russia’s cheating schemes implicated about 1,000 athletes across 30 sports who competed in global competitions from 2011 to 2015, and the Russian government must provide access to stored urine samples in the Moscow laboratory.

Russia has not fulfilled either of those demands yet. Russian officials have cited a continuing investigation by its own government for refusing WADA access to lab samples and data.