Viner, who is head of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, has been suspended by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) for her behaviour following her team’s defeat at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Her comments after the Russian Olympic Committee missed out on rhythmic gymnastics gold to Israel have been deemed "abusive and in violation of FIG rules".

The Gymnastics Ethics Foundation’s (GEF) proceedings also relate to the alleged "retaliatory withdrawal" of Natalya Kuzmina’s candidacy in the elections to the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee shortly after the Olympics and Viner’s "failure to duly cooperate with the investigation".

Under the sanctions, Viner is not allowed to participate in international competitions, including work as a coach, head of delegation or other official role, in any FIG-sanctioned event for two years.

The ban will not start until one day after Russia’s suspension from international competition is lifted providing this happens within five years from the date of the Viner ruling.

A representative from the FSGR told Russia’s official state news agency TASS that the organisation was considering appealing the decision.

"The Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation has 21 days to file an appeal," said the FSGR representative.

"In order to do this, you must first study all the possible legal consequences of such a step.

"You need to understand whether it is possible to achieve another decision and whether it will become worse whether there are lawyers who are able to obtain a review of the decision."

The reason why the FSGR is considering filing the appeal and not the organisation led by Viner is because it is the only national gymnastics governing body in Russia recognised by the FIG.

Following the ban, Viner told TASS that she was "very grateful" to those that had spoken out in her defence including Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Russian figure skating coach Tatyana Tarasova.

"Thank you for their support," said Viner. 

"We will continue to work.

"Everything is fine with us, the children work, they show brilliant programmes.

"We have invented a new art form, we have great concerts. 

"And this takes place against the backdrop of competitions. 

"We only dream of peace, everything is fine."

Uzbek-born Viner is considered one of the most successful rhythmic gymnastics coaches of all-time having trained the likes of Russian Olympic champions Evgeniya Kanaeva, Alina Kabaeva and Yulia Barsukova.

According to TASS, Viner was also awarded the "gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation" during a ceremony held at the ROC headquarters that aimed to recognise women in sport.

ROC first vice-president Igor Levitin, an aide to Putin, presented the prizes that included the "Order of Friendship" being awarded to Russian Synchronised Swimming Federation President Olga Brusnikina and the medal of the order "For Services to the Fatherland" going to Russian figure skating coach Svetlana Sokolovskaya.

Russian Luge Federation President Natalia Gart and Russian figure skating national team head coach Elena Chaikovskaya also received certificates of honour.

"Today, not only outstanding athletes and coaches have gathered in this hall," said Levitin in a report by TASS. 

"There are also volunteers here - people without whom it is impossible to hold competitions today, medical workers, university teachers. 

"People who forge Russia's Olympic glory."

Dmitry Svishchev, chair of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, urged the FIG to take her record of developing rhythmic gymnastics into account as he added to calls for an appeal against the decision.

"Russia has always been ahead of the rest of the planet, and everyone else has already followed it," Svishchev told TASS.

"And here it is - the gratitude of colleagues, so to speak.

"We, of course, never expect from their kind, but to do this with the actual founders of modern rhythmic gymnastics is already too much.

"I think that we need to consider the option of appealing this decision.

"It does not at all correspond to the era that Irina Viner personifies in world sports.

"I think that this punishment is directly related to her position on matters of principle."

His comments come after Chernyshenko slammed the ruling against Viner as "another proof of the encroachment on the independence of sports in the face of Western political functionaries".

"Already habitual idle talk aimed at a person with undeniable authority in international sports, the standard policy of exalting the weak by removing the cynicism of our Western colleagues knows no bounds, and over and over again we observe their naive decisions that destroy the large-scale world sports system that has been built for decades," added Chernyshenko.

Russia withdrew Kuzmina's candidacy in the elections after Viner criticised her for judging at Tokyo 2020 when the country failed to win an Olympic gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics for the first time since Atlanta 1996.

Israel's Linoy Ashram won in the individual all-around, despite dropping the ribbon in her last discipline, leading to several countries filing protests during the competition.

Viner described the judging as "egregiously unjust" and "simply a disgrace to rhythmic gymnastics" when speaking to Russia state-funded broadcaster RT channel after the competition.

The day after Ashram’s victory, Russia lost out to Bulgaria in the team event.

Viner then told Russian state media that "everyone understood perfectly well that this was meant to happen, that Russia’s hegemony had to be stopped".

Viner and the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation had refused to cooperate with the investigation run by a GEF Disciplinary Commission Panel, which was led by Swiss lawyer Laurence Burger and included Greek Despina Mavromati and Austrian Thomas Hayn.

A factor in the decision to ban Viner was that this was her second offence having already received a warning from the FIG Presidential Bureau in 2008 for public statements deemed to violate the world governing body's ethics rules at the time.