International Olympic Committee offers full support for IAAF decision to ban Russians

IAAF president refuted suggestions that the decision to keep the suspension of the Russian athletics federation was politically motivated.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has labelled the ban “unjust and unfair” while pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva repeated her threat to sue the IAAF and the International Olympic Committe for an infringement of her human rights if prevented from competing.

At a forum in St Petersburg, Putin said that “there has not been and can not be any support at state level for violations in sport, including the use of doping”.

In its attempt to overturn the ban in time for its athletes to compete in Rio, Russia had announced a raft of reforms including the introduction of compulsory anti-doping classes in schools.

“I hope that we will discuss this further with our colleagues in the anti-doping structure and hope for an appropriate response from the International Olympic Committee”. International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates of Australia told the Associated Press Saturday that he did not expect the International Olympic Committee to overrule the IAAF’s decision.

“It is really a sad situation in Russian athletics and in general global athletics”, Stepanov said of the IAAF decision.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe does not believe there are many Russian athletes who will benefit from a loophole to compete in the Rio Olympics. Formerly Yuliya Rusanova, she was a Russian doping cheat who turned whistleblower and helped uncover the doping problem in her country.

The independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published on November 9 the results of its probe into the activities of the ARAF, the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and the Russian Sports Ministry.

“I shall go to the summit, which is due on June 21 in Lausanne”, he told TASS on Saturday.

“We will insist on the rights of clean athletes and will definitely return to the worldwide arena”, it said.

When pressed to explain what he meant by “precedent-setting opportunity”, Reedie said: “We are encouraged that the IAAF recognised its responsibilities”.

“That is absolutely the way the IOC would recognise the primacy of an worldwide federation in making judgements around eligibility…in the best interests of (their) sport”.

Evidence provided by Stepanov, a former Russian anti-doping agency employee, and his wife formed part of an investigation that led to Russian athletics being suspended from worldwide competition.

Radcliffe, long an advocate of the fight against doping, praised the IAAF Council’s stand.

McLaren’s report will be completed by July 15, two weeks before the start of the Olympics, but if it is bad as many are now predicting Russian Federation might consider itself fortunate to have any competitors in Rio, whether they are wearing neutral kit or not.