Russia banned from Olympics and World Championships for the next two years

Russia has officially been banned from using their name, flag and national anthem at the Olympic Games and World Championships after a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"The (CAS) panel has clearly upheld our findings that the Russian authorities brazenly and illegally manipulated the Moscow Laboratory data in an effort to cover up an institutionalized doping scheme," World Anti-Doping Association president Witold Banka said in a statement.

You may recall that Russia was forced to play as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) in the 2018 Winter Olympics and, ultimately, took home the gold medal in the NHL-less tournament. Well... OAR will be back in action at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China as well as every IIHF World Championships between now and then.

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The ban comes after a damning scandal and investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in a landmark case that accused Russia of state-ordered tampering of a testing laboratory database in Moscow. The ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years.