The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) voted to lift the ban on Russia's anti-doping agency RUSADA, according to an official statement issued by the WADA on Thursday.
"Today, the great majority of the WADA Executive Committee (ExCo) decided to reinstate RUSADA as compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code, subject to strict conditions," said WADA President Craig Reedie.
Earlier, the WADA said that its compliance review committee had recommended the reinstatement of RUSADA, which has been suspended since 2015 due to alleged state-backed doping.
Craig Reedie, president of the WADA. /VCG Photo
Back in November 2015, an independent committee led by Dick Pound, former president of the WADA released a report on doping cases in the track and field world. The 350-page report not only revealed the widespread use of illegal drugs by Russian athletes of track and field, but also claimed that a "shadow lab" was set up to destroy over 1,000 test samples.
Soon the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) canceled temporarily the membership of the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) and banned all its athletes globally. Meanwhile, RUSADA was announced non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.
In June 2016, the IAAF decided to maintain the ban on Russia, which the country's Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko described as "a political hit job". In December 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that the Russian athletes attending the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang can compete under the Olympic flag, but not on behalf of their country.