The Russian flag and national anthem were barred from the Olympics and other major sports events and the nation was also banned from hosting world championships in Olympic sports after the WADA executive committee unanimously approved a full slate of recommended sanctions for tampering with a Moscow laboratory database. There is evidence to show that Russian authorities manipulated data to hide hundreds of potential doping cases and falsely shift the blame onto whistleblowers, WADA investigators and the International Olympic Committee said last month. Handing over a clean database to WADA was a key requirement for Russia to help bring closure to a scandal that has tainted the Olympics over the last decade. Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in major events only if they are not implicated in positive doping tests or their data was not manipulated, according to the WADA ruling. Russia have again avoided a blanket ban as they did at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games after a state-run doping program was exposed by media and WADA investigations after Russia hosted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Russia's anti-doping agency is likely to appeal the decision at Switzerland's Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and has 21 days to do so. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL: Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.