Cap-d’Ail (France) (AFP) – World athletics chiefs voted to extend Russia’s blanket ban from international competition on Monday, putting in doubt the European powerhouse’s participation at the World Championships in London in August.
The IAAF issued a statement saying its Council, chaired by president Sebastien Coe, had approved the task force recommendation to extend Russia’s ban, explaining that the country was “not ready for reinstatement”.
Russia has been banned since November 2015 following a damaging report alleging that state-sponsored doping was rife in the country.
The ban had already been extended in March and then June 2016, preventing Russia’s athletes from competing at the Rio Olympics.
Coe meanwhile reiterated the IAAF’s commitment to giving clean Russian athletes the possibility to compete as neutrals.
“Our priority is to return clean athletes to competition but we must all have confidence in the process,” said Coe at the IAAF’s Council meeting in Cap d’Ail, France.
“Clean Russian athletes have been badly let down by their national system. We must ensure they are protected and that those safeguards give confidence to the rest of the world that there is a level playing field of competition when Russians return.”
So far in 2017, 35 Russian athletes have applied to compete as neutral athletes in international competition, the statement added.
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