The event will be held to Vershina Tei, with a proposed date of the middle of March.

In a statement, the IOF revealed it had checked it was able to award the Championships to the country due to Russia's ongoing non-compliance.

The WADA Code states that International Federations should “do everything possible to award World Championships only to countries where the National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee and National Anti-Doping Organisation are in compliance with the Code".

WADA’s legal department responded by suggesting the IOF find another venue, but otherwise it was acceptable to award the event to Russia, the only bidder.

A spokesperson for WADA told insidethegames the IOF would have been free to give the event to Russia anyway as the bid deadline fell before the stricter compliance standards came into effect on April 1.

The older compliance standards only relate to World Championships and not continental events, although this has changed in the updated version to cover a wider scope of competitions.

“The IOF should do everything possible to award the event to another country which is compliant," WADA said to the IOF.

“If you have no possibility to get another bid from another country and you can demonstrate that you did all you could but cannot get another bid, then you may award the event to Russia,” WADA clarified.

Sprint, middle distance, mixed sprint relay, long distance and relay events will be contested at the Championships.

The IOF has admitted it has struggled to find hosts for several major competitions and are still searching for bidders for several other 2020 events.

These include the Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships, European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships, World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships and the World Cup in Ski Orienteering.