The IAAF said on Friday that the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) "has been given clear instructions on the action it needs to take and which safeguards must be put in place before being reinstated to the sport," according to Mitch Phillips of REUTERS. The IAAF published a "long and detailed list of criteria that the ARAF must satisfy before the ban imposed for widespread doping offences is lifted." Russia "was suspended last month." Russian athletes are set to miss the world indoor championships in the U.S. in March and "face a race against time to be cleared to compete in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next August." IAAF President Sebastian Coe said, "The conditions we have announced leave no room for doubt. Russia must demonstrate verifiable change across a range of criteria and satisfy our task force that those criteria will be met permanently. There is no timeline for Russia. It is up to them to implement verifiable change both in anti-doping practice and culture." The IAAF said that the Russian federation "must be able to show that none of its directors, officers or staff have any prior links to doping, while introducing a comprehensive code of ethics (REUTERS, 12/11).
