Russia readies for 2020 Olympics despite potential ban

People gather outside the headquarters of the Olympic Committee of Russia in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The head of Russia's Olympic Committee said on Thursday it was carrying on with preparations for the Tokyo Olympics next year and criticised World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recommendations to punish some Russian Olympic officials as excessive and wrong.

A WADA committee recommended this week that Russia be banned from the Olympics and world championships in a wide range of sports for four years after Moscow was found to have provided the agency with doctored laboratory data.

WADA's executive committee will rule on the recommendations in Paris on Dec. 9.

President of the Olympic Committee of Russia Stanislav Pozdnyakov addresses the media after an annual meeting of the committee with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Under the recommendations, some Russians without a history of doping could be cleared to compete in major international events as neutrals, as was the case at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

"All our clean athletes, those who were not involved or are not suspected of doping, will take part in the Games as part of our Olympic team," Stanislav Pozdnyakov, president of Russia's Olympic Committee, told senior sports officials at the committee's annual assembly in Moscow.

"And we will do everything in our power for our team to compete in Tokyo under the Russian flag."

Mikhail Mamiashvili, President of the Russian wrestling federation, attends an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said this week that it welcomed the opportunity for clean Russian athletes to compete, saying WADA had not indicated "any wrongdoing by the sports movement in this regard, in particular the Russian Olympic Committee or its members."

Pozdnyakov, a five-time Olympic medallist in fencing, criticised a recommendation that would bar senior officials from Russia's Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee from participating or attending major sporting events for four years.

"We consider the measures proposed by the committee to be excessive, inappropriate and wrong," Pozdnyakov told reporters.

Victor Khristenko, President of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Business Council, attends an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Russia was banned by the IOC from last year's Pyeongchang Winter Games as punishment for state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

But many Russian athletes with no history of doping were nonetheless cleared to compete as neutrals.

Officials, led by President of the Olympic Committee of Russia Stanislav Pozdnyakov, attend an annual meeting of the committee with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Dmitry Madorsky and Lev Sergeev; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

President of Russian Gymnastics Federation Vasily Titov attends an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Presidents of Russia's gymnastics and basketball federations Vasily Titov and Andrei Kirilenko speak before an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

President of the Olympic Committee of Russia Stanislav Pozdnyakov attends an annual meeting of the committee with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Sofya Velikaya, Chairman of the Athletes' Commission of the Olympic Committee of Russia, attends an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

First Vice President of the Russian Football Union Nikita Simonyan waits before an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Presidents of Russia's ice hockey and basketball federations Vladislav Tretyak and Andrei Kirilenko speak before an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

An official attends an annual meeting of the Olympic Committee of Russia with sports federations, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

A man walks past the Olympic rings outside the headquarters of the Olympic Committee of Russia in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

A man stands in front of the Olympic rings outside the headquarters of the Olympic Committee of Russia in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina