The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) should explain to Russia what other actions it should undertake to restore the status of the national athletics, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Saturday.
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“We have a doping review board and it will be them that will, on a one-by-one basis, make that judgement as to whether they meet the eligibility requirements and they are in systems that are safe and secure and we can guarantee them”.
“The deep-seated culture of tolerance of doping appears not to have been changed materially”. The World Anti-Doping Agency had requested that the samples be preserved following allegations of Russian athletes’ doping offenses at the Sochi Games.
The Norwegian’s task force also found that Russian Federation has still not created “a strong and effective anti-doping infrastructure capable of detecting and deterring doping”.
“There are detailed allegations, which are already partly substantiated, that the Russian authorities, far from supporting the anti-doping effort, have in fact orchestrated systematic doping and the covering up of adverse analytical findings”.
“The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) would like to clarify that Friday’s (17 June) IAAF decision does not affect the participation of Russian Para athletics team at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games”, the committee said in a statement.
Bach, a former fencer and an Olympian, has also expressed his concerns that the Rio Summer Games be a fair playing field for all athletes and the more the truths be known the higher the bar can be set for clean sport.
“There must be clean athletes in Russian Federation, but because they are under the system, we can not be sure”.
But on Friday, IAAF boss Sebastian Coe acknowledged that while some progress had been made by the Russians, it was not enough.
Russian President Vladimir Putin walked back some of his previous praise for USA presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on Friday at a forum…Asked about previous comments in which he complimented Trump, Putin said they were misinterpreted, saying he had only ever called Trump “flamboyant”, Reuters reported.
“I am in shock”, javelin thrower Very Rebrik told Tass. “I won’t keep silent”.
“I take it negatively”.
Australian race walker Jared Tallent, who was on Friday awarded a London 2012 Olympics gold medal after being promoted from silver following a Russian doping case, also welcomed the decision as positive for the sport. “The entire team should not be responsible for those who committed the violation”.
“Of course, it is unfair”, Putin told editors from leading global news agencies at a supper on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg worldwide Economic Forum. And we will never support this. “And we are going to cooperate with all the global organizations in this regard”.
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“The Russian Athletics Federation has failed these individuals over many years and, for this reason, we condone taking steps to ensure that they are not punished for the systemic doping regime in which they did not take part”, he said in a statement. The IOC stated on Saturday that it “fully respects” the IAAF’s decision.
