The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Committee unanimously approved a four-year period of non-compliance for the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

The approval was made by the 12-member WADA Executive Committee, which met in Lausanne on Monday. The decision is based on a 26-page recommendation made by the independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC), established in 2015 to monitor anti-doping organizations.

The decision means that the Russian flag, name, and anthem will be banned from international sporting events, including the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Russia could also be stripped of its right to host world championships in sports governed by the International Olympic Committee.

It remains unclear how WADA's latest ruling will affect Russian cyclists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and UCI World Championships.

"Today's strong decision by the ExCo demonstrates WADA's determination to act decisively in the face of the Russian doping crisis, which recommends meaningful sanctions through WADA's robust investigative capacity, the vision of the CRC, and the compliance standards that took effect in April 2018 WADA's recently acquired capabilities. Combining these strengths has allowed ExCo to make the right decisions at the right time," WADA President Sir Craig Reedy said in a press release.

However, according to WADA, Russian athletes can compete in international sporting competitions if they can show that they are clean competitors, for example, not involved in a positive doping test and their data has not been manipulated.

Russia has been accused in a state-sponsored doping scandal dating back to the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Doping tests were tampered with to prevent positive tests. He was also accused of manipulating test data at an anti-doping laboratory in Moscow.

In 2016, Richard McLaren led an investigation detailing hundreds of missing positive doping tests, including 26 from cycling. Several Russian athletes were subsequently excluded from competition at that summer's Rio Olympics; at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Russian athletes were allowed to compete under a neutral flag.

WADA subsequently reinstated RUSADA in September 2018 under key compliance conditions agreed to by WADA's Executive Committee.

However, WADA revealed last month that the key reinstatement conditions for RUSADA were not met in that Moscow's data was neither complete nor authentic, and WADA has been working to discredit whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, who RUSADA had manipulated anti-doping laboratory data that he was required to provide to WADA.

According to WADA, the CRC's recommendations outline key facts drawn primarily from WADA I&I and forensic expert reports. The report concludes that the Moscow data was intentionally falsified before and during its forensic copying by WADA in January 2019.

The report also found that some data was deleted, other data was falsified, and in some cases system messages were fabricated to interfere with the work of WADA investigators. In addition, to conceal these operations, steps were taken to date back computer systems and data files to make it appear as if Moscow's data had been in its current state since 2015.

"For too long, doping in Russia has been a long way from clean sport," Reedy said. 'The blatant violation by Russian authorities of the RUSADA reinstatement conditions approved by ExCo in September 2018 demanded a robust response. That is exactly what has been achieved today. Russia was given every opportunity to restore order and rejoin the global anti-doping community for the sake of its athletes and the integrity of the sport, but instead chose to continue its stance of deception and denial. As a result, WADA's ExCo responded in the strongest possible terms while protecting the rights of Russian athletes who can prove that they were not involved in and did not benefit from these fraudulent practices.

"On behalf of the ExCo, and on behalf of the many WADA officials who supported the CRC's recommendations, I would like to thank the members of the CRC for their professional and thoughtful recommendations, and the WADA I&I and forensic experts for their skill, diligence and patience in getting to the bottom of this very complex case. I would like to thank them."

WADA concluded that the Executive Committee approved the entire CRC recommendation.

WADA alleged non-compliance with the requirement to provide a true copy of Moscow's data and stated that it would send a formal notice to RUSADA in the future. It also proposed the following result, which would take effect on the date RUSADA's determination of noncompliance is finalized and remain in effect until the fourth anniversary of that date.