Kremlin says Russia remains 'open to cooperation' on doping

The Kremlin on Wednesday said Russia regrets a proposed four-year blanket ban for the country's athletes over doping but will remain open to cooperation.

A key World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) panel has recommended Russia be barred from all sporting competition for four years after accusing Moscow of falsifying laboratory data. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

The Kremlin on Wednesday said Russia regrets a proposed four-year blanket ban for the country's athletes over doping but will remain open to cooperation.

“We regret this,” President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in the first Kremlin reaction to anti-doping watchdog WADA's recommendations issued Monday.

“You know the Russian sporting authorities have been, are and will remain as open as possible to cooperation and collaboration with the international sporting community and also with WADA.”

A key World Anti- Doping  Agency ( WADA)  panel has recommended Russia be barred from all sporting competition for four years after accusing Moscow of falsifying laboratory data handed over to investigators, the global anti-doping watchdog said on Monday.

In a bombshell  statement , WADA's Compliance Review Committee (CRC) called for the sanctions, which would see Russia banned from next year's Tokyo  Olympics,  to be approved at a meeting in Paris on December 9.

The WADA committee has also recommended Russia be barred from staging or bidding for major international sporting events for a four-year period -- potentially placing Saint Petersburg's status as one of the venues for the  Euro 2020  football tournament in jeopardy.