Door still open for Russia to compete in Rio athletics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Reuters) - Russia still has a shot to compete in the athletics competition at the 2016 Olympics if they can prove they are drug free, the head of a probe into the country's doping scandal said on Tuesday.

Door still open for Russia to compete in Rio athletics

(Reuters)





The International Association of Athletics Federation banned Russia from the sport last week after a stunning World Anti-Doping Agency report that alleged unprecedented doping offences.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe has said Russia can only return to competition once they prove they have set up a new framework to stop doping.

Norwegian anti-doping expert Rune Andersen, who is heading the five-person inspection panel into Russia's athletics team, told Reuters he did not rule out the chance of Russia putting their house in order in time for the Aug. 5-21 Rio Games.

"It is impossible to say whether there is enough time to do something with this situation. Whether it is one month, two months, a year, it's impossible to say," Andersen said during a break in the WADA executive committee meeting on Tuesday.

"It is time to get their act together, that is quite obvious based on the report from WADA and also based on the fact the IAAF has found it necessary to appoint such a review team which I am heading.

"This will certainly be something we are really digging into when we get the terms of reference in place. We need to have the scope of our work, how wide we go into this and what type of work we actually are being asked to do."

Russia has set out a three-month road map to clean up their act, with the nation's Olympic Committee leading efforts to ensure honest athletes can compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

However, the Institute of National Doping Organisations said earlier on Tuesday that Russia should be banned from competing in athletics at the next year's Games in order to send a strong signal against doping.





(Editing by Frank Pingue)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world