Russia’s athletics federation has met in Moscow to begin what the sports minister said would be a purge of its staff after the country was suspended from global competition over doping.
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“We will propose to our Olympic Committee and together will try to approach the worldwide Association of Athletics Federations and the IOC [International Olympic Committee] with a proposal that our clean athletes compete in various tournaments under the ROC aegis in the next three months”, Mutko said.
The President of the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA, Craig Reedie, described the conditions under which Russian athletes will be admitted to the Summer Olympic Games 2016 in Brazil.
“The Russian Olympic Committee is firmly convinced that honest athletes must participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro”, said committee head Alexander Zhukov.
Bach said it will fall to the IAAF and WADA to rule whether the Russians are compliant. “All clean athletes will be protected” the statement said. ‘Anyone found guilty of using illegal drugs or anyone who facilitated or was complicit in their use must be punished’.
Zhukov who is also a senior Russian political figure and ally of President Vladimir Putin said on the ROC website that he was ‘convinced that the ROC’s actions in this area will find support from the IOC WADA and the IAAF leadership’.
The IAAF is expected to demand Russian Federation apologises for its behaviour, ends state interference in track and field and investigates athletes suspected of doping before it is allowed back in to competition.
Russia will undertake reforms and appeal to the worldwide Association of Athletics Federations within three months to return to competition, the sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said. “If the Russian athletics federation is not compliant and the athletes can not take part in any kind of qualifications, then the situation is clear”.
Citing the Edmund Burke quote which says “It is necessary only for good men to do nothing for evil to triumph”, Coe wrote in the Telegraph: “It is an observation that stabs between the ribs, and something that I have thought about restlessly and incessantly over the past very bad week for athletics”.
“We’ve discussed the IAAF decision and worked out a crisis plan”, Vadim Zelichenok told the R-Sport news agency after an extraordinary ARAF meeting.
O’Connell said Kenya had been too slow to react in 2012 when a German documentary alleged it had a doping problem.
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He acknowledged however that lengthy court proceedings might actually reduce Russia’s hopes of having its ban lifted in time for the Olympics which are just nine months away.
