Russia said on Sunday it "would ask the world athletics body to allow its athletes to compete under an Olympic banner rather than the Russian flag to circumvent a ban, but the idea was quickly brushed aside" by the IOC, according to Maria Kiselyova of REUTERS. The IAAF suspended the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) on Friday "following allegations of widespread and state-sponsored doping." Russia "has since announced a three-month road map to clean up its act, with the nation's Olympic Committee leading efforts to ensure honest athletes can compete at the 2016 Olympics." Russian Sports
Minister Vitaly Mutko said that "his ministry would ask the Russian Olympics
Committee to apply to the IAAF and the IOC to request that Russian athletes compete under an ROC
flag." He said, "I hope the IAAF will
consider our application that over the next three months while the
membership of the Russian Athletics Federation is suspended, our
athletes could compete in international contests under the flag of the
ROC, our national Olympic Committee." Some Russian athletes "have already suggested they could compete at the 2016 Olympics as independents under the Olympic flag." The
IOC has previously allowed independents to compete at Olympic Games in
certain cases, "such as when an athlete's home country is in transition
or subject to sanctions" (REUTERS, 11/15). The AP's James Ellingworth wrote Russia "could be back on the path to reinstatement for next year's Olympic track and field competition." IOC President Thomas Bach said, "We are confident that the initiatives being proposed by the ROC, with the responsible international organizations, WADA and the IAAF, will ensure compliance as soon as possible in order to provide participation of the clean Russian athletes at the Olympic Games." Bach "gave his backing to Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov, who has been appointed to oversee reforms of Russia's athletics federation, anti-doping agency and national drug test lab, all of which were implicated in a damning report." The IOC said the ROC "will coordinate all efforts in Russia to address the issues mentioned" in the WADA report. The statement said, "All doped athletes will be sanctioned. ... All clean athletes will be protected" (AP, 11/16). The PA reported the ROC agreed to make the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, the anti-doping laboratory in Moscow and ARAF "compliant with the WADA code and all other international anti-doping regulations as soon as possible." Zhukov told Bach an "ongoing thorough investigation by the national authorities in Russia" will fully cooperate with WADA and the IAAF, and the ROC "will initiate the renewal and reform of the ARAF" (PA, 11/14).
ROAD MAP: REUTERS' Jack Stubbs wrote Mutko said on Saturday that "he had agreed a road map" with IAAF President Sebastian Coe. Mutko: "In three months we will once again go to the international federation to present ourselves as compliant with its standards. We hope our team will be reinstated." Mutko said that "elections to replace almost the entire ARAF leadership would be held in the next two months." Acting head Vadim Zelichenok "was quick to announce he would not be standing, having earlier said he was prepared to step down to help his country recover from the doping scandal." In what some Russians see as a "politically-motivated attack," Moscow "will now be barred from hosting the world race walking and world junior championships next year" (REUTERS, 11/14). The BBC reported among the measures the ROC will undertake are to:
- coordinate all efforts in Russia to address the issues mentioned in the independent commission report "with a view to make Russia's anti-doping agency, the anti-doping laboratory in Moscow and the national athletics federation compliant" with the WADA code and all other int'l anti-doping regulations as soon as possible.
- initiate the "renewal and reform of the national athletics federation."
- make the anti-doping system independent from sports organizations and to request that WADA "take over this function as soon as possible" (BBC, 11/14).
ISINBAYEVA ASKS FOR WISDOM: REUTERS' Jason Bush wrote former Russian Olympic pole-vaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva on Friday called on the IAAF "not to punish honest athletes in response to doping allegations against Russia." Isinbayeva wrote an open letter addressed to the world athletics community. In the letter, she said, "I hope for the leaders of the IAAF will show wisdom," predicting "the correct decision will be taken." She added, "Those who are guilty will pay their price, and those who are innocent will have the opportunity to compete and represent our country in a dignified manner at all international sports arenas" (
REUTERS, 11/13).
'MURKY COMPROMISE': The BBC reported UK Athletics Chair Ed Warner said Russian athletes missing the 2016 Rio Olympics to ensure a clean Tokyo 2020 Games would be a "price worth paying." Warner said the "longer-term quality" of the Olympics rests on the sport "being seen to be clean." He said, "If you've got to have pain in Rio to ensure Tokyo is clean, so be it." He added while he would like Russian athletes to be in Rio, he does not want a "murky compromise" to allow their return (
BBC, 11/15).
