Russian Federation vows to act on athletics anti-doping after IAAF ban

“Time mechanisms of testing athletes and anti-doping control in Russian Federation will be developed in the near future, but for this we will need to meet with WADA representatives”.

New Zealander David Howman, right, the director general of the…But the notion of Russian athletes being allowed to compete in Rio has caused disquiet amongst competitors past and present.Zhukov dismissed suggestions Russia’s track team could compete at the Olympics under the IOC or Russian Olympic Committee flag as a alternative solution, which would likely mean their results would not count toward Russia’s standing in the medals table.

Leaders of the World Anti-Doping Agency declared Russia’s anti-doping operation out of compliance Wednesday – a harsh though expected blow to a country accused of widespread corruption throughout its sports.

But the IAAF said Thursday it has asked its five-person inspection team to begin its verification work no later than January 1 and report back “at the earliest” on March 27 – a week after the Portland championships end.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe said: “For the protection of all clean athletes there can not be any timeframe for Araf’s return until we are assured all criteria have been fully met and will continue to be met forever”.

The hard part for the World Anti-Doping Agency was, well, everything else. “So far, it’s hard to say”. The final decision rests with the IAAF Council.

The vote came as key figures in the anti-doping movement, including Olympic champions Edwin Moses and Beckie Scott, called for banning the Russian track team from next year’s Olympics and for the probe in Russia to extend beyond track and field.

There’s a lot of debate about how Russia’s path to compliance will be monitored by WADA, and whether any shortcuts will be taken, with less than nine months to go before the torch is lit. “Repeating past failings which have brought ARAF to their current position is not an option”.

Identifying, investigating, suspending, sanctioning or excluding from Araf all athletes, coaches, doctors, agents or administrators involved in doping.

The Russian athletics federation has been provisionally suspended from athletics by the sport’s world governing body the IAAF after the damning revelations contained in a report written by an independent commission on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

A marathon runner, Viktor Ugarov, became the first person to be punished for breaking Russia’s ban after he won a race in Japan on Sunday, two days after the suspension was imposed.