Ban on Russia is praised by Davies

British sports minister Mims Davies has welcomed the IAAF’s decision to maintain the Russian Athletics Federation’s ban until Russia reveals the secrets of its staterun doping programme.

At a meeting of its council in Monaco on Tuesday, athletics’ governing body rejected the ninth plea from the Russian authorities to reinstate RusAF, which has been suspended since November 2015.

That followed a World AntiDoping Agency-funded (WADA) investigation into allegations of endemic cheating in Russian athletics – allegations that were corroborated and then extended to almost every other sport in 2016. The extent of Russia’s doping forced the International Olympic Committee to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee before this year’s Winter Games but that sanction was lifted soon after the closing ceremony and, in September, WADA decided to drop its sanctions against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), as well.

Unlike WADA, however, the IAAF has resisted calls to compromise on its reinstatement criteria, which means RusAF’s suspension will continue until independent experts get access to the Moscow laboratory at the centre of the doping scandal and Russia pays for the costs of the IAAF’s ‘Russia Taskforce’.

Davies said: “Doping scandals have damaged the faith of both fans and competitors, and the IAAF decision is a clear message that Russia must co-operate fully before it can be back in the fold.”