New rules: IAAF sets out terms of Russian Federation return

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency, RUSADA, which has been at the center of an worldwide scandal since the publication of a scathing report by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Independent Commission on November 9, 2015, is implying that it is on the path to returning to compliant status.

Track and field has been plunged into the worst crisis in its history over the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report which uncovered a sophisticated state-supported doping program pervading all levels of Russian athletics.

Said WADA President, Sir Craig Reedie, “As we have seen from WADA’s immediate response to the Independent Commission’s Report, action is now well underway to right wrongs that exist in anti-doping”.

Balakhnichev has also been expelled from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisory council on sport and fitness, the ROC said.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has identified six countries who are now in breach of its codes.

“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”.

The former athlete is “95 percent sure that the situation will be resolved long before the Olympics” and the biggest punishment that awaits Russian athletes is missing the indoor world championships.

“In light of Israel being included in the non-complaint list, we will immediately remove our requests (even though they are just) to adapt the code to the Israeli law and will continue our discussions with WADA on the issue”.

Bach this week said the International Olympic Committee has no authority to ban Russian track athletes from competing in Rio, that the decision is exclusively up to the sport’s governing body.

The Russian anti-doping agency said in a statement Thursday it “is already carrying out work to rectify all the shortcomings that have been brought to light”, including co-operation with WADA on appointing outside experts to oversee reforms. Russia’s track and field athletes are indefinitely banned from global competition and could miss the Olympics in Rio.

WADA has agreed this week to look into it, and Bach offered his three proposals as “some food for thought” and that their adaptation would “in one or the other way would lead to a more efficient, more transparent, more streamlined, more cost efficient, more harmonised anti-doping system”. The headline from his presentation was the possibility that the Russian government could strip funding from the Moscow anti-doping lab, which has also been declared noncompliant.

“They’re saying, ‘Why not all sports?” said Scott, a Canadian Olympic cross-country skiing champion and also the chair of WADA’s athlete committee.

“It would better protect the clean athletes and enhance the credibility of sports”.