The World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) decision to ban Russia from world sports championships for four years is the strongest ever ban handed down.

In the inglorious history of state-sanctioned doping from the East German athlete factories of the 60s and 70s to the Chinese in the 80s and 90s and Russia — most notably at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 — it's the first time whole-scale sanctions have been handed down against an entire country.

That takes it far further than any suspension handed down to individuals, like the life ban for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Russia as a state is now persona non grata in world sport.

WADA president Sir Craig Reedie said "for too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport".

"Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and re-join the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial," he said.

"As a result, the WADA ExCo has responded in the strongest possible terms, while protecting the rights of Russian athletes that can prove that they were not involved and did not benefit from these fraudulent acts."

The ban means Russia will not be able to send teams to next year's Tokyo Olympic Games or the following Beijing Winter Olympics, Paralympics, Youth Olympics, or world championships in any sport that is a signatory to WADA.

Russia will also be banned from major team sport events like the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Russian athletes will be able to compete at the Olympic Games provided they can prove they are clean, but it will not be under the flag of the Russian Federation — they will have to compete as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" as they did at last year's South Korean Winter Olympics.

While Russian athletes will be able to compete as neutrals at world championships, provided they can prove they are clean, it is not clear how that will work in practice.

Nor will Russia be able to stage or bid for any international athletic event. That clears one hurdle for southern Queensland's bid for the 2032 Olympics, in which Russia had shown some interest.

Russia hosted the World Cup in 2018, but will not be able to compete at Qatar 2022. ( AP: Matthias Schrader )

The head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, David Sharpe, said the decision "was a watershed moment for the anti-doping movement".

"The Russian state-sponsored doping campaign is the worst case in the history of anti-doping and must be met with the harshest possible sanctions," he said.

The ban is not for the systemic doping at Sochi per se, although that is where it all began.

Russia's whack comes about because it doctored and deleted hundreds of adverse analytical findings from 2015 — in a cynical attempt to cover up a cover-up.

The Russian anti-doping body, RUSADA, now has 21 days to either accept the ban or dispute it at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

If the ban is subsequently upheld, it will raise another pertinent question: will Russia's penalty actually change anything in the never-ending quest to clean up world sport?

After all, this is the final step that began in the aftermath of the 2014 Winter Olympics. It has taken five years to get to this point and there could be some way to go yet if Russia appeals.

There are some, such as former WADA president John Fahey, who argue all Russian athletes should be banned regardless of whether they are clean.

The advocate group Global Athlete has gone further saying "WADA has robbed athletes worldwide of their right to clean sport due to their inability to enforce the strongest possible sanction on Russia".

In a statement it said WADA, "it is simply a lapdog of the International Olympic Committee".

The case, if anything, proves that cheaters can be caught, but it takes an enormous amount of resources if the doping is done with any sort of sophistication.

Yes: The science is improving. Anti-doping investigators now keep samples frozen for years so they can retrospectively apply new techniques. They are now looking at gene testing in doping tests, which will extend the window in which drugs will show up in an athlete's system.

It's a constant cat-and-mouse battle. But while catching a cheat is one thing, doing so after the event can't help but lessen the achievement of an athlete who came second on the day.

Just ask Jared Tallent about the bittersweet feeling of being awarded the 2012 Olympic gold medal for the 50-kilometre walk, four years after the event.

The WADA ban on Russia may make some individuals and states rethink their attempts to cheat the system, but it won't stop it altogether. There has always been doping. There always will.