Speaking in St Petersburg just hours before that press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “There isn’t and can not be any support on the government level of violations in sport, especially on the question of doping”.
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“If you’re fighting doping, Russian Federation should be withdrawn from the Olympics”, Dr. Rodchenkov said in Los Angeles last month.
The IAAF announced in November that it had provisionally suspended Russian athletes from world competitions amid a major doping scandal.
“I expect that the IAAF will maintain the sanction against Russian athletics”.
VIENNA (AP) – Russia made a last-minute plea Friday for its track and field athletes to be allowed to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, claiming it has cleaned house and met all the requirements for reinstatement. According to Dr. Rodchenkov, Russian athletes took that cocktail of anabolic steroids to prepare for the last Summer Olympics, in London in 2012.
Russian Federation made a last-minute plea Friday for its track and field athletes to be allowed to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, claiming it has cleaned house and met all the requirements for reinstatement.
International Olympic Committee vice president John Coates said he didn’t think the IAAF would lift the ban.
A decision on whether Russia’s suspension from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will be lifted in-time for Rio 2016i is due to be made here later today.
The Kremlin has dismissed reports of government involvement, including a German TV report this month that accused Mutko of participating in the cover-up of a state-sponsored doping program, as unsubstantiated slander based on testimony from people who’d fled Russian Federation. “The head coach of Russian athletics and many athletes appear unwilling to acknowledge extent of the doping problem and ignore the anti-doping rules”.
What’s being decided: The IAAF provisionally suspended the All Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) in November, banning its track and field athletes from worldwide competition after a report from a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission concluded Russia was running a state-sponsored doping program in the sport. Evidence of state-sponsored doping should be enough to disqualify the whole track team, they contend.
The global governing body for track and field, known as the IAAF, announced the decision on Friday, ruling that Russian Federation had not done enough to restore global confidence in the integrity of its athletes.
Information released by WADA on Wednesday suggested the country is still obstructing and avoiding drug testing.
“Russia has done everything that the IAAF independent commission has rightly asked of us in order to be reinstated to athletic competition”.
Russian athletes will remain banned from global competition, BBC Sport understands. We have rebuilt our anti-doping institutions which are being led by respected worldwide experts.
A news conference is expected to be held later on Friday. Last month, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, said she would file a discrimination case in the court for human rights.
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“The Olympic Charter is based on the premise that everyone should participate”, Zhukov said, expressing hope that the IAAF would make an “objective, balanced decision”.
