Moscow (AFP)

Moscow said on Wednesday that it is ready to cooperate on the issue of doping, while regretting the heavy sanctions recommended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which accuses Russia of falsifying data.

"The Russian sports authorities have been, are and will be ready to cooperate fully with the international sports community and with WADA," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, describing the sanctions, including possible exclusion the next Olympic Games, "very sad".

"Detailed explanations have been provided on the questions previously asked (by WADA) and I am sure this cooperation will continue," he said.

Peskov called for "keeping a cool head" pending WADA's final decision to be taken on 9 December, while saying it was "worried" and "regretting" the situation, with Russia particularly at risk of next Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

The Kremlin spokesman called on Russian athletes to continue training despite the threat of exclusion, "in order to continue their leadership position" in the world rankings.

According to the WADA Compliance Review Committee (CRC), Russia had removed "hundreds" of suspicious anti-doping results from its files sent to WADA at the beginning of the year. However, the delivery of these data was a prerequisite for lifting previous sanctions against the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada), at the heart of an institutional doping system between 2011 and 2015.

If WADA's Executive Committee, which will meet in Paris on December 9, confirms the recommended measures, Russia will be banned from international sport for four years, excluding competitions, including the Olympic Games.

Athletes who have demonstrated "that they are not involved in any way" in doping cases could however be admitted, under a neutral flag, as was the case at the 2018 Winter Olympics or at international athletics competitions since 2015. .

It remains to be seen whether the WADA Executive Committee, composed equally of representatives of the Olympic Movement and governments, will go so far. In any case, it will be up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to decide as a last resort.

© 2019 AFP