GORKI, December 9. /TASS/. Today’s decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency to bar Russian athletes from participation in Olympic Games and world championships for four years is a manifestation of the chronic anti-Russian hysteria, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medevedv said on Monday.
"The fact that these decisions keep on repeating and are often applicable to those athletes who have already been punished this or that way, obviously makes one think that it is a continuation of the anti-Russian hysteria that has already grown chronic," he stated.
The prime minister thinks that the country's relevant organizations should appeal the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency on Russia. "I believe those organizations that are responsible for this, I mean Russian organizations that deal with these issues, should mull over challenging this decision," he told a meeting with deputy prime ministers.
The prime minister has acknowledged that Russian sports have faced some doping problems. "Just recently I said in an interview that in this particular case, on the Russian side, too, I mean in our sports community, there still exist considerable problems with doping. It is impossible to deny this," Medvedev said.
Earlier on Monday, the WADA Executive Committee unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Compliance Review Committee (CRC). This will entail sanctions against Russian sports. Russia will be stripped of the right to host major sports competitions or make bids for hosting them for a period of four years. Russian athletes will be unable to compete at world championships and Olympic Games under the national flag. Apart from that, Russian government officials and senior staff of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) will be banned from attending international tournaments.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency has the right to appeal WADA’s ruling within 21 days.