Russia to contest WADA's 4-year doping ban

Russia decided 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 antidoping 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 reporters.

The decision will have to be communicated to WADA before the end of the month, triggering the appeal process in the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

WADA on Dec 10 banned Russia for four years from major global events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, over manipulated doping data.

Putin appeared to indicate a lengthy legal battle loomed, as he addressed a throng of journalists in his annual press conference.

"We will have to calmly await all the relevant decisions, including the decision by the arbitration court, then we will understand what position we're in," he said when asked about the prospect of cancellation of events on Russian territory.

Putin reiterated that he believes WADA's decision to be "not only unjust, but also not corresponding with common sense or law", saying Russia was being punished the second time for the same alleged offence.

He argued that the majority of Russian athletes were clean and should not be deprived of the right to compete under the Russian flag due to the actions of some individuals. "If WADA does not have any issues with our national Olympic committee our team must compete under its flag," Putin said.

"If a majority of our athletes are clean how is it possible to slap sanctions against them for someone else's actions? "Russian athletes have been training and will be training for competition.