Last updated on .From the section Sport

Leading athletes have opposed the lifting of Russia's suspension

A World Anti-Doping Agency team will access the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's laboratory in Moscow on Wednesday, nine days after an initial deadline.

Wada's inspection team were denied full access to data after Rusada was set a 31 December deadline to comply.

A three-year Wada suspension of Russian athletes was ended in September.

Wada president Sir Craig Reedie says access "will break a long impasse and will potentially lead to many cases being actioned".

Russia's failure to provide full access to the laboratory and data led to 16 national anti-doping bodies (Nados) and Wada's athlete committee to call for the country to be suspended.

The issue will be debated when Wada's compliance review committee (CRC), an independent body, meets on 14 January, after which it will make a recommendation to Wada's executive committee (ExCo).

Reedie added: "We are continuing to act on the basis of the 31 December deadline having been missed, with all the consequences that failure could bring."

US Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart said: "This appears to be yet another round of the cat and mouse game between Wada and Russia we have unfortunately come to expect.

"We are all holding our breath as to how this one will end come 9 January and whether Wada will finally be given the data on the roughly 9,000 presumptive positive tests results on over 4,000 Russian athletes that hopefully has not already been destroyed by the Russians."

A report from Professor Richard McLaren in July 2016 found Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme for four years across the "vast majority" of Olympic sports.

A subsequent report stated more than 1,000 Russian athletes benefited from doping and Russia was later banned from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Wada had insisted Russia meet two criteria before Rusada could be reinstated to competition; accept the findings of the McLaren report, and grant access to Moscow's anti-doping laboratory.

Monday's Wada statement said: "Access to, and subsequent authentication and analysis of, the data remains crucial in order to build strong cases against cheats and exonerate other athletes suspected of having participated in widespread doping on the basis of previous Wada-backed investigations."

Wada says its five-person team in Moscow could not access the necessary data between 17 and 21 December because of an issue raised by Russian authorities "in relation to the certification of the equipment under Russian law".

Wada says the issue has since been resolved by the Russian authorities.

Reedie had previously said he was "bitterly disappointed" after it was confirmed Rusada had missed the deadline and that "the process agreed by Wada's ExCo in September will now be initiated".

How the Russian doping scandal unfolded