European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen "does not expect Russia to return" to int'l competition in time for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, according to Ed Osmond of REUTERS. Russian athletes were banned indefinitely by the IAAF after a WADA report alleged "widespread corruption and a state-sponsored drugs culture in a sporting superpower." An IAAF inspection committee is "due to visit Russia in January to oversee the country’s reform process and ensure the criteria set out by the sport's ruling body are met." Hansen, whose body includes Russia as a member federation, said, "For the moment they have to fulfill the conditions, but I cannot really see them competing in Rio. They must have a cultural change. They must get rid of all those people from before." Hansen believes that Russia's Athletic Federation (ARAF), which has confirmed it will cooperate fully with the inspection team, "will work hard to change the culture." Hansen: "We know some good people in Russian athletics and I'm sure they will be elected. We hope that some new people will come in who really understand that this must be changed" (REUTERS, 12/29).
