After a long wait, the IAAF made their decision on Friday night that Russia will be indefinitely suspended in a move that IAAF President Sebastian Coe says is a wake-up call for all involved.
The International Athletic Associations Federation (IAAF) has provisionally suspended Russia’s track and field federation (ARAF) for an indefinite period. A 27-member council of the IAAF voted 22-1 on the decision through a telephone conference on Friday evening.
The suspsension could include the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and Russia will also not be entitled to host the 2016 World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary and the 2016 World Junior Championships in Kazan.
“Today we have been dealing with the failure of the ARAF (All-Russia Athletic Federation) and made the decision to provisionally suspend them, the toughest sanction we can apply at this time,” IAAF president Sebastian Coe said.
“But we discussed and agreed that the whole system has failed the athletes, not just in Russia, but around the world. This has been a shameful wake-up call and we are clear that cheating at any level will not be tolerated.”
‘Clean athletes’ also banned
Russia’s anti-doping agency was the subject of a report the World Anti-Doping Administration (WADA) published on Monday. The report detailed a state-sponsored doping cover-up, which included fraudulent tests and destroyed medical samples.
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko offered “broad cooperation” from Russia’s anti-doping agency on Friday morning, going as far as suggesting deep departmental reform. He was also critical of the IAAF’s approach to previous doping cases not involving Russia.
“The IAAF since 2008 or 2009 hid not just Russian athletes’ samples but 155 cases that they then pulled out with about 15 of our athletes,” said Mutko.
Yelena Isinbayeva, a three-time world champion pole vaulter from Russia, expressed her disdain for a possible ban early on Friday, saying “to ban innocent … athletes from competing in international events and (the) Olympic Games in Rio is not fair.”
“All my victories are honest, ‘clean’ and deserved,” she continued. “I have always followed and am following all the anti-doping rules precisely. The situation the Russian national team is in now is very sad but I ask you not to treat all the athletes in the same negative way.”
dv/jh (AP, AFP)
