Olympics will oppose blanket bans for Russians but Wada process could see country miss World Cup 2022

The International Olympic Committee has suggested it will oppose a blanket ban on Russian athletes when the World Anti-Doping Agency announces its ruling on an alleged mass manipulation of drug-test data.

Wada has already warned Russia it faces reinstated sanctions over apparently deleted positive tests sent to the global agency in January.

Sir Craig Reedie's final act as president before retiring from Wada was to announce that a decision will be made on December 9th when a compliance review committee makes its formal recommendation to the executive board.

The process could eventually trigger blanket expulsions that would freeze the nation out of Tokyo 2020 and the football World Cup in 2022.

However, IOC president Thomas Bach indicated on Monday that he would not welcome a blanket ban from the Tokyo Olympics next year.

“That’s in the hands of WADA right now, and then the sanction will be finally announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, so it’s not in the hands of the IOC,” he said.

“What we are concerned about ... our principle is that the guilty ones must be punished as hard as possible and the innocent ones must be protected.”

Russia is accused of doctoring a vast archive of computer files which it handed over in January in return for earlier doping sanctions to be lifted.

On Sunday, the CRC considered a report from "the Agency's Intelligence and Investigations Department and independent forensic experts."

It said the report included "consideration of responses from the Russian authorities to a list of detailed and technical questions" raised by the experts.

The statement pointed out that the timing meant that the ExCo would still be "under the chairmanship of WADA President Sir Craig Reedie whose term of office runs until 31 December 2019."

The IOC put restrictions on Russia's participation at the last two Olympic Games. Russia was barred from the Pyongchang Winter Games last year as punishment for alleged state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

However, some Russians with no history of doping were cleared to compete as neutrals.