Russian Federation Banned From World Athletics Over Doping

At least two of those medals are now under suspicion following the WADA commission report, which said the London Games were “sabotaged” by athletes who had been using performance-enhancing drugs.

WADA called the IAAF decision “positive news for clean athletes worldwide”. The Russian member of the council could not vote. “We’ll work with them”. “From (the IAAF’s) perspective, in light of the evidence, suspension was the only proper course of action”, said Stephanie Hightower, president of USA Track and Field.

An IAAF statement listed the main agenda item of the meeting: “Decision to provisionally suspend the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) as an IAAF member”.

“We send a clear message to clean athletes in a dirty system to report any doping or cheating that they see or hear about”.

“The suspension is temporary”.

Coe has already hinted he will press for this course of action when the Council convene at 6pm.

With the IAAF’s former president under investigation by French prosecutors investigating corruption and money-laundering charges linked to the IAAF, Mutko says its priorities should have been elsewhere.

If Russia went ahead and reformed its anti-doping system and its athletics federation, it would need a firm undertaking from the world anti-doping agency that it would not demand a fresh round of changes later on, he said.

Athletes, and athlete support personnel from Russian Federation may not compete in worldwide Competitions including World Athletics Series competitions and the Olympic Games.

The vote was 22-1.

The WADA report, which took 11 months to compile, was commissioned in light of revelations made in December past year in a documentary screened by German broadcaster ARD.

“Many athletes were deprived of a chance to compete at the Olympics in 1980 and 1984”, he said in reference to the Soviet-US tit-for-tat boycotts on political grounds.

A spokeswoman said: “The position of the special commission on doping with regards to Russian athletes looks extremely biased, politicised”.

It came on the same day that a WADA committee found Russia’s national anti-doping agency to be non-compliant with its code.

“I don’t believe that Russia’s athletics squad, or all the more, the whole country’s team will be banned”, Zagorulko told AFP. This is the first time the IAAF has suspended a nation because of doping concerns.

Nike sponsors the Oregon Project, an athletics training group whose coach, Alberto Salazar, has been accused of violating doping rules.

“The situation around the Russian athletics team is very sad”.

Senior Russian officials have been lobbying hard in recent days as they try to avoid being banned from track and field. Among the report’s recommendations was a suspension of the country’s track program for the Rio Olympics unless it demonstrated a significant improvement to its anti-doping program.

But global Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said he didn’t think Russian Federation would be suspended from the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“We’re prepared for broad cooperation”, Mutko told R-Sport news agency on Friday.

“We must do everything in Russian Federation to rid ourselves of this problem”, said Putin, an avid sportsman and judo black belt who led Russia’s bid to host last year’s Winter Olympics and the 2018 football World Cup.