Russia now confident of overturning doping ban

RUSSIAN athletics chiefs are hopeful that their global ban for doping will be lifted. World Athletics are due to discuss the prospect of removing the Russian federation’s suspension, which has stood since 2015, at a meeting of the ruling body’s council in Rome.

The Russian Athletics Federation have worked hard to get their house in order since a systemic doping regime was revealed. Russian athletes will remain banned from representing the country as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, but their ruling body could be welcomed back into the fold. World Athletics, whose president is Lord Coe, imposed the eight-year ban after a damning investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency revealed the scale of Russian drug-taking.

The huge, state-sponsored regime sabotaged London 2012 and, according to the investigative report, included ‘cover-ups, destruction of samples and payment of money to conceal doping tests’.

The Russian federation were hit with further sanctions in 2020, including a £7.9million fine, after the Athletics Integrity Unit found senior individuals had conspired to break doping rules.

In a separate WADA case, investigators found that data from a Moscow anti-doping laboratory had been tampered with. It meant the Russian anti-doping agency remained suspended, a sanction which will be reviewed next month. Only 10 Russian athletes were allowed to compete as ‘Authorised Neutral Athletes’ at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

The Russian federation claim that the corrupt individuals have been weeded out and that their system is compliant with anti-doping regulations.