The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has warned that Russia could face a ban from all major sports events due to discrepancies in its lab database.
WADA has given Russia three weeks to explain the inconsistencies found its lab database or risk facing a ban from the Olympics and world championships. The country may also be excluded from hosting major events.
Jonathan Taylor, chairman of WADA's compliance panel, said "There's evidence this data has been deleted. We need to understand from the Russian authorities what their explanation is."
Russia has been previously suspended for three years due to a state-sponsored doping program. In January, the country submitted data from its laboratory in Moscow as a precursor to its reintegration into sporting events.
Taylor pointed out "This is hypothetical at the moment, but if the experts maintain their current view, then the compliance review committee will make a recommendation to send a notice to Rusada asserting 'you're non-compliant' and proposing consequences."
He added "In a case with a 'critical non-compliance', there is now a starting point for the sanctions that can go up and down, and they do include sanctions against Rusada and options include no events hosted in Russia, and they do include no participation of Russian athletes in world championships and up to the Olympics."
He also mentioned that while WADA now has authority to enforce such sanctions, Russia could still file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He added "Everyone has agreed they will enforce what Cas agrees. We've got to be very careful. Procedure has got to be followed. We can't prejudge the outcome."
In 2016, WADA's recommendation to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics was rejected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but the IOC suspended the country from the 2018 Winter Olympics, forcing its athletes to compete as neutrals.
