Half happy news for Russia: The High Court of Appeals in the World of Sports (CAS) decided today (Thursday) to shorten the suspension sentence received by the Russian teams from the Anti-Doping Agency in Sports (WADA) from only four years to two years. Meaning: The Russian team will not appear in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the upcoming Olympics, but individual Olympic athletes who prove that they did not take part in the doping affair will be able to participate in Tokyo 2021 under a neutral flag.
Also, the Russian team will be able to participate in the Euro to be held this summer, as it is not considered a “world sporting event”, but only a continental competition. It is not yet clear where all the games will take place but according to the original plan St. Petersburg will host games in the home stage and the quarterfinals.
As you may recall, the Russian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was accused by its global counterpart of forwarding forged documents to it as part of its investigation into the largest doping incident in the history of sports. Initially, the Russian teams were given a four-year suspension from world sporting events, but today it was decided that the sentence would be shortened to two years.
