Russia loses handball medal for doping

In the latest scandal to hit Russian sports, the country has been stripped of a European handball medal after three players were banned for doping.

Russia has been stripped of a European handball medal after three players were banned for doping.

The European Handball Federation said the three all tested positive while playing for Russia at last year's European women's under-19 championship in Slovenia, where Russia won silver.

The EHF sentenced Antonina Skorobogatchenko, Maria Duvakina and Maria Dudina to 20-month bans after they all tested positive for meldonium, a heart-boosting substance banned in 2016.

"The panel noted that the players did not knowingly intend to cheat when ingesting the prohibited substance and that the players had established that they had not intentionally taken the banned substance," the EHF said in statement

It explains why they received less than the standard four-year ban.

"The fact that the players also admitted the violation promptly was also taken into account."

None of the three were on the Russian women's team which won Olympic gold in 2016.