LAUSANNE: Sport's highest court on Thursday banned Russia from international sports competitions for two years including the Tokyo Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling halved a four-year ban for systematic doping imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Under the landmark decision which also excludes the country from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, Russians will still be allowed to compete, but only as neutrals.
The CAS verdict followed a four-day arbitration hearing between WADA and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) at a secret location last month.
The showdown, in front of three CAS judges took place following WADA's decision last year to declare RUSADA non-compliant after the Russian body was accused of manipulating drug testing data.