Ban on Russian athletes to stay

Bengaluru, August 1: Russia remains banned from international track and field competition after the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that it had not made sufficient progress in its anti-doping fight to merit reinstatement.

Russia was accused in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report last year of widespread state-sponsored doping. Its athletics team was barred from last summer's Rio Olympics and will also miss the IAAF World Championships that get under way in London on Friday.

A number of Russian athletes, however, have been granted permission by the IAAF to compete as neutrals after meeting the exceptional eligibility criteria, essentially demonstrating that they've come through transparent anti-doping testing.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe confirmed that 19 Russian athletes were in London to compete at the worlds.

But the country remains excluded as a whole after the IAAF Council Meeting in London, voted unanimously to maintain the ban on the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF).

"The report has been unanimously approved by the Council," confirmed Rune Andersen, independent chairman of the IAAF Taskforce looking into doping in Russia.

"Material progress has been made but there are still issues that need to be resolved" in terms of reaching several of the conditions established by Council for reinstatement of RusAF to IAAF membership.

Those conditions have not yet been met in full, and several important steps remain outstanding, he said.

"I can confirm that our impression is that they really want to meet all the criteria that have been set," Andersen insisted.

OneIndia News