The World Anti-Doping Agency committee that has been investigating Russia has recommended the country face a four-year ban from global sports, Tariq Panja of the New York Times reported Monday. WADA confirmed it would recommend the punishment in a release later in the afternoon.
The news came after the committee discovered Russian officials had erased failed doping tests from the submitted database it was required to release.
If Russia is banned four years beginning Jan. 1, 2020, it would end up missing three straight Olympic Games. The country was banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, though individual athletes cleared of doping competed as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” in neutral apparel.