by Alfonz Juck
Moscow 2013, photo by PhotoRun.net
MONACO (MON): Russia remains suspended in athletics. The current status is that most, but not all, of the verification criteria have been met. Of the five remaining conditions in the Roadmap, one has been fully met to date (support for the Clean Sport Movement), two others have only been partly met (satisfactory testing, and a solution to the problem of enforcement of provisional suspensions of coaches), and two have not been met at all (acknowledgement of McLaren findings; reinstatement of RUSADA).Based on the above, the conditions established by the IAAF Council for reinstatement of RusAF to IAAF membership have not yet been met in full.Commenting on the report, Rune Andersen, independent Chair of the IAAF Russian Taskforce said: “RusAF continue to work hard at reforming Russian track & field, and the Taskforce continues to support those efforts. However, there are several reinstatement conditions still to be satisfied. In particular, RusAF needs the Russian authorities to get RUSADA reinstated and to acknowledge the McLaren findings”. Next IAAF Council meeting to again evaluate the situation will be held after World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, that means for the indoor championships most probably only athletes as neutral ones could be allowed to participate.
