Sebastian Coe took over as IAAF president a year ago after his predecessor was indicted in France on corruption charges.
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In November, the International Association of Athletics Federations suspended Russia from international track and field competition after the World Anti-Doping Agency deemed it “non-compliant”. Other examples of obstruction occurred during an athletics event.
Russia’s Sports Minister yesterday hit back at a damning World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report released on the eve of an IAAF decision on whether to readmit the country in time for the Rio Olympics.
WADA highlighted hundreds of attempts this year to test Russian athletes being thwarted by Russian intelligence officers and bureaucratic obstacles. In November 2015, WADA’s Independent Commission issued a report accusing Russian Federation of numerous breaches of global anti-doping regulations.
At some point this week in Vienna, a five-member IAAF task force will update the entire council (there are 27 members; it’s unclear how many will be in attendance) on Russia’s progress in reforming its anti-doping operations.
“Peskov did not comment on Russia’s possible moves in case the national athletics team is banned from the Games”.
“My guess is that Seb and Thomas (Bach) are under considerable pressure to find some kind of formula that lets Russian Federation in, and that opinion among various constituents is very much divided”, Pound said. “A lot of credibility is at stake for the Russians, the IAAF and the IOC”.
Allowing Russian athletes to compete in Rio would be met with outrage by many athletes and administrators, who feel a ban which takes in only one major championship – the World Indoor Championships in March, which many athletes opted to miss anyway – is insufficient for the extent of cheating uncovered.
The vote will be an early test for IAAF President Sebastian Coe, the former British Olympic runner who took over the job previous year from Lamine Diack, who was indicted in France last November and charged with money laundering and conspiracy in connection with allegations he took bribes to cover up doping cases. Mutko said there had been “pressure” on the IAAF.
Customs – WADA accredited laboratories reported samples being opened by Russian customs and overall delays in the transportation of samples. “That is why I would not make any conclusions in the regard”, he said.
We have a fundamental obligation at the IAAF and at Athletics Canada to ensure our athletes know, when they line up in Rio, that they and their competitors are competing on equal terms. Other cases could end up in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Russian authorities were also accused of providing institutional cover for athletes.
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There’s also the possibility that the International Olympic Committee steps in and arranges some kind of compromise, regardless of what the IAAF decides.
