Russia may be wiped from the global sporting world for four years if the recommendations of a World Anti-Doping Agency compliance committee are accepted by WADA's executive.

It is alleged the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) removed what may have been positive samples from its database as well as deleting and/or altering other files dating back to 2015, the peak of a state sanctioned doping program exposed by Russian whistleblowers and resulting in Russia being banned from a number of events, including the Rio Olympic Games.

The Moscow data was handed over to independent WADA investigators as part of a "road map" for reinstatement.

In a 26-page report written by WADA's Intelligence and Investigations department it is also alleged fabricated evidence was planted in the database to discredit Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Russia's anti-doping laboratory now living in the US under a witness protection program.

WADA's Compliance Review Committee's recommendation of a four-year ban for Russia includes that:

No Russian Government officials or representatives are to sit as members of boards or committees on any code-compliant organisations (such as Olympic sports, FIFA, etc);

No Russian Government officials or representatives are to sit as members of boards or committees on any code-compliant organisations (such as Olympic sports, FIFA, etc); Russian Government officials or representatives may not participate in or attend any major sporting events, including January's Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne, the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar;

Russian Government officials or representatives may not participate in or attend any major sporting events, including January's Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne, the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar; Russia be prevented from hosting any major sporting event within the period;

Russia be prevented from hosting any major sporting event within the period; Events already awarded to Russia (such as UEFA 2020 matches) be withdrawn unless it is legally or practically impossible to do so;

Events already awarded to Russia (such as UEFA 2020 matches) be withdrawn unless it is legally or practically impossible to do so; Russia's flag be banned from all major events

Russia's flag be banned from all major events No senior officials (President, Secretary General and CEO) of the Russian Olympic Committee or the Russian Paralympic Committee be allowed to attend any major sporting event; and

No senior officials (President, Secretary General and CEO) of the Russian Olympic Committee or the Russian Paralympic Committee be allowed to attend any major sporting event; and Russian athletes only be allowed to compete if they can prove they are not implicated in any way by the non-compliance findings.

It is not yet known which way WADA's board will vote at a specially convened meeting in Paris on December 9 — a result either way will send shockwaves throughout the sporting world.

The executive committee is made up of government officials (including from Australia) as well as International Olympic Committee and other sports officials, some of whom have previously been unsupportive of a blanket ban. With mounting pressure from athletes around the world, a vote against the proposed ban seems unlikely.

Teams from Russia are already in full training for January's Winter Youth Olympic Games due to start in Lausanne, Switzerland on January 9, as are athletes aiming to compete at the Tokyo Olympics later in the year.

The national football teams will also be affected, with the draw for the UEFA Euro 2020 finals to be conducted in Bucharest this coming Saturday (November 30).

Russian athletes who can prove they were not part of the nation's doping program will need to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to gain approval to compete as a "neutral", a process that is neither easy nor quick.

Many other athletes who have been demanding meaningful penalties for organisations and nations that continue to flout the anti-doping rules will be cautiously celebrating the news.

Global Athlete is an athlete-driven organisation pushing for change by providing a voice on major issues.

Its director-general, Rob Koehler, is a former deputy director-general of WADA.

"Russia has had so many chances to right their wrongs, they have failed to do that and continue to undermine the integrity of sport," he said.

"To date, there have been no meaningful consequences for the institutionalised doping."

"We all know the argument that athletes should not suffer due to state doping, but the problem is they will continue to suffer in this type of system if we don't have meaningful consequences."

He says the next generation of Russian athletes deserve to compete cleanly and not be forced into a system that doesn't provide protection and is unsafe.

"Change will only occur when the global regulator sets an example that cheating of this scale will never be accepted."

Koehler also questions why the report from the WADA Intelligence and Investigations team has not been made public.

"Transparency should be at the heart of the anti-doping movement."

Even RUSADA has admitted to tampering.

In early October in an interview with Der Spiegel the newly appointed head of RUSADA, Yury Ganus, admitted "thousands of changes" were made to the data as late as January this year.

"Someone has tried to hush up information on a large scale," he said.

Ian Chesterman, the Australian Olympic Committee's chef de mission for Tokyo, also supports strong sanctions against those involved in systemic cheating.

"The confirmation of a systematic disregard for the conduct of fair sport, particularly undermines those who are pursuing their goals in the true spirit of sport," he said.

"There's still a further process to be undertaken here, but there's no question the sporting world must continue every effort to stamp out the scourge of doping and punish those who seek to disadvantage athletes who do the right thing."