Russian athletes must be banned from Rio Olympics – INADO

Worldwide Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council members Abby Hoffman, Anna Riccardi, Frank Fredericks and Geoff Gardner are to join anti-doping expert Rune Andersen on an inspection team to assess the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF), the IAAF has announced.

The Russian Sports Minister also said that Russia has asked worldwide Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to let Russian track and field athletes take part in the upcoming competitions under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), instead of the Russian flag to circumvent the ban imposed by the world athletics body.

Also Monday, Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov said the committee plans to establish a temporary managing committee this week for the Russian athletics federation, pending elections of a new president in January. “This partially explains such a tough decision with regard to Russia’s Athletics Federation”, Zelichenok was quoted as saying by state-run newswire R-Sport agency. “It was meant to divert the blow from themselves”, he said.

The Russian Anti-doping Agency (RUSADA) will have to prove it can operate “independently of Russia” if the Russian team is to participate in the Rio Olympics, according to Dick Pound, author of the damning World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) doping report.

“The corruption of anti-doping uncovered by the independent commission is a tragedy for sport and for clean athletes everywhere”.

“First of all, we’ll defend the athletes” interests as the term “commission’ implies a sort of a link between active athletes and the IAAF heads”, Isinbayeva said.

The WADA Foundation Board is to meet to discuss the growing crisis in the sport, following the Russian doping scandal. “But politics should not be mixed up with sports”, TASS reported.

“We’re not convinced there’s enough time between now and then for them to clean up their act”, David Kenworthy, the chair of iNADO and the UK Anti-Doping in Britain, told The Associated Press.

“I guess the question I am asking myself at this very moment is, ‘How on earth have we got from a sport that was underpinned by people like that (coach) to the horror show that played out on the global stage last week?'”

He acknowledged however that lengthy court proceedings might actually reduce Russia’s hopes of having its ban lifted in time for the Olympics which are just nine months away.