OREANDA-NEWS. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev considers the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to remove Russia from all major international competitions for four years to be the “continuation of anti-Russian hysteria.”

At a meeting with deputy prime ministers, the head of the government instructed Olga Golodets to ask the sports structures to appeal against the decision of WADA. “Russian organizations whose jurisdiction includes all these issues will have to think over the questions to appeal against such a decision,” Medvedev said.

According to the Prime Minister, the WADA’s repetition of such decisions, including those which are connected to athletes who have already been punished in one form or another, “suggests that this is a continuation of anti-Russian hysteria.”

Medvedev also recalled that in a recent interview he had already confirmed that there were significant problems with doping in the Russian sports community.

On December 9, WADA imposed four-year sanctions against Russia. The agency banned the use of national anthem and flag, as well as holding international competitions in Russian territory. WADA accuses Russia of manipulating the databases of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory in order to hide the systematic use of doping by Russian athletes.

The decision to agree or disagree with the instructions of the WADA Executive Committee and their consequences will be made by the Supervisory Board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on December 19. If RUSADA does not agree with WADA, Moscow will be able to appeal the sanctions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.