Russia’s appeal against a four-year international competition ban will be held at the start of November, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced.

Russia is appealing against sanctions that will prevent athletes from competing under their flag at the Tokyo Olympics

In a list of hearings published on its website, CAS said that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) would contest the punishment handed down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) from November 2-5 this year.

WADA declared RUSADA non-compliant with its code last December after alleging that laboratory data had been manipulated as Russian teams were blocked from competing in global sporting events.

The sanctions ruled out Russian athletes competing under their country’s flag at events such as the Olympics and Paralympics, with the next Games now to be held in Tokyo in 2021, and the following year’s football World Cup.

The hearing will be held at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland

Under the sanctions, Russia is also barred from hosting international sporting events, and only Russian athletes who can prove they are not implicated in the non-compliance will be permitted to compete.

WADA investigators found that Moscow laboratory data acquired in January 2019 which covered a period from January 2012 to August 2015 had been manipulated, in that some information which was present in data WADA obtained from a whistleblower in 2017 was missing from the 2019 files.

The data had been handed over to investigators as one of the conditions of Russia’s reinstatement to compliance in September 2018.

The case will now be heard by CAS and the court’s decision will be binding.

Source – Sky Sports