Outgoing President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Craig Reedie said that the organisation would not come down hard on their Russian colleagues because doing so would "cut off our nose to spite our face," following a press conference in Lausanne on Monday.

"Because they have now reformed all of their practices, we will not apply any consequences - RUSADA will be invited to continue the good work that they are doing now," said Reedie to a Russian media scrum.

Meanwhile, WADA's Director of Intelligence and Investigations Gunter Younger said he was still hoping to exonerate more Russian athletes of wrongdoing, should he be provided with the "raw data" to do so. "I am still hoping for the Russian athletes. I always say that 'it was [a] Russian who took down [inaudible], it was Russian athletes who wanted to help us, and Russian officials," said Younger.

WADA unanimously decided to back the recommendations by the Compliance Review Committee (CRC), in accordance with which Russian athletes will be forbidden from competing under their flag at world championships and major sporting events for at least four years, amongst other punishments for alleged interference with anti-doping data.

In response to the announcement by WADA, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev called the ban a continuation of 'anti-Russian hysteria.'