MOSCOW, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that only individual athletes should be punished for doping but not the entire country.

"Any punishment for doping should be individual, and if somebody is caught red handed, then it is absolutely natural and just," Putin said during his annual press conference.

"But if an owerhelming majority of athletes here are 'clean', how sanctions can be applied against them?" he asked.

The decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in his opinion, contradicts the common sense and the law, as well as the Olympic Charter, as the national team should not compete under a neutral flag, while there are no complaints against the Russian Olympic Committee.

He added that he believed the WADA ruling had a political character.

On Dec. 9, the Executive Committee of the WADA ruled to ban Russia from international sporting events for four years.

The move will prevent Russia from having any formal presence at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

According to the WADA ruling, over the next four years, only "clean" Russian athletes with the neccessary medical proof will be allowed to participate in major sports events, and even then they will not be able to represent Russia. Russia will also be banned from hosting any major sports events.