The guidelines echo IAAF Taskforce independent chairman Rune Andersen’s remarks last Friday permitting “not tainted” Russian athletes to compete “not for Russia but as a neutral athlete”.
Advertisement
The guidelines come following last week’s IAAF Council Meeting, where it was decided that the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) had not met the verification criteria to be reinstated as an IAAF Member Federation.
With the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) declaring both Kenya and Russian Federation “non-compliant”, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said athletes from those countries could no longer be “presumed innocent”.
“We hope that CAS will make an objective, fair and lawful decision, in spite of the already publicly announced position of its president”, he added.
Allegations against Russian Federation included widespread state-sponsored use of performance-enhancing drugs, authorities helping athletes cheat on doping tests, destruction of incriminating evidence, as well as threats against drug testers by Russia’s Federal Security Service.
The Telegraph reported that out of the 23 athletes accused of doping in the 2012 Olympic Games, eight were Russian. The Russians are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, however, to let their “clean” athletes in, so the door is not definitively shut.
The IAAF left “a crack in the door” for what will probably be a very small number of Russian athletes who can demonstrate a clean record from credible testing agencies.
A final decision will be taken after the International Olympic Committee confirms whether the second samples from the weightlifters were also positive.
“The point is that the Olympic sports International Federations are authorized to take the first decision on the eligibility of athletes for participation in the Olympic Games”.
The guidelines also highlight another potential row and that is on the issue of what kit these “neutral athletes” will wear and what flag they appear under. It also said it would set up a task force and aimed to test every athlete, before the Games, who will be competing in Rio. Two of those teams were Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, so the sanctions could yet be overtaken by a team ban. It named Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus as the countries facing suspension.
Advertisement
“We must be convinced that the new regulations will be for the benefit of all athletes, otherwise we find it intimidating and it will affect the performance of our athletes during the Games”. McLaren is due to issue his findings by July 15.
