Russia could face permanent exclusion from the world championships and Olympic competition over data manipulation claims.

The World Anti-Doping Agency released a statement saying that "inconsistencies" in data received from the Moscow laboratory had triggered the procedure and forensic experts have thus far not been able to find an "innocent reason" for the discrepancies.

"We need to understand from the Russian authorities what their explanation is," said WADA's compliance panel chairman Jonathan Taylor.

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) have been given three weeks to "provide their comments, together with answers to a list of specific questions" regarding the suspicious data.

The case arose regarding data handed over from the Moscow lab in January as the country made a bid to be reintegrated into the international sporting fold after a three-year doping ban.

WADA now has the ability to apply exclusion punishments but if Russia were to appeal against this, the case would be sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).