BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – The governing body of world athletics on Friday maintained Russia’s ban from track and field over mass doping, just 10 days before the start of the European Championships in Berlin.
“The IAAF Council unanimously adopted the resolution that RUSAF (the Russian athletics federation) not be reinstated at this time,” said Rune Andersen, head of the IAAF’s Russian taskforce team.
Andersen, however, said there had been “a lot of meaningful engagement from RUSAF”, which has made “significant improvement” in meeting reinstatement requirements.
“In some cases they have gone above and beyond what is required,” the Norwegian said before adding that the conclusion remained that RUSAF not be reinstated at this time with further progress still to be made.
Andersen said that for Russia to be reinstated, ideally at the IAAF Council’s next meeting in Monaco in December after a WADA meet in September, three demands must be met.
Firstly, RUSAF must pay for the costs incurred by the IAAF in the wake of the doping scandal, notably the establishment of the taskforce.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA must also be reinstated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with a key requirement being the acknowledgement by Moscow that ministry of sport officials orchestrated the doping of Russian athletes.
