Russia’s athletics federation has met in Moscow to begin what the sports minister said would be a purge of its staff after the country was suspended from international competition over doping.
Russia will undertake reforms and appeal to the International Association of Athletics Federations within three months to return to competition, the sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said. At stake is the country’s participation at the world indoor championships in March and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Mutko summoned the presidium of the All-Russia Athletic Federation on Sunday following the IAAF decision to indefinitely suspend Russia because of widespread violations found by a World Anti-Doping Agency commission. Mutko said on Saturday he and the IAAF president, Sebastian Coe, had agreed on a “road map” for reform.
The UK Athletics chairman, Ed Warner, insisted that making Russian athletes miss the 2016 Rio Olympics to ensure a clean Tokyo 2020 Games would be a “price worth paying”.
“If you’ve got to have pain in Rio to ensure Tokyo is clean, so be it,” said Warner, who said he does not want a “murky compromise” to allow Russia’s return.
But Mutko told the news agency Tass that the Russian athletics federation is taking steps to ensure it will return to international competition before Rio, including replacing coaches and officials. He added he hoped its leadership would be 99% new after elections at a conference on 16 January at which a temporary federation president and presidium will be elected.
“Some may suffer in this situation, but we will remove all those whose reputation is under suspicion from the athletics management system,” Mutko said on the state television channel Rossiya 24.
“Within 60 days we will conduct a renewal of athletics, we will bring in new, modern people, we will work with the international federation to take all measures by its standards. We will take all measures recommended to us by Wada and the IAAF and in 60 days, or in three months, we will come to the international federation again so we can show that we’re meeting standards, and we hope our team will regain its rights.”
Mutko also told Rossiya 24 that Russia could turn the management of its athletics federation over to the Russian Olympic Committee, which has promised that all athletes, officials, coaches and other personnel involved in doping “will be banned from all activity related to sport and will be punished”. It is expected to lead reforms of Russia’s athletics federation, anti-doping agency and drug-testing lab.
The International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, has rowed back on his comments of Saturday that he was confident that Russia’s reform process would make the country compliant in time to compete in Rio.
Bach insisted Russian track and field athletes would only return if the country falls into line with all anti-doping rules and its reforms are verifiable. “The important goal is not bringing them back,” Bach said. “The goal has to be Russia being compliant again with all the international anti-doping regulations. If the Russian athletics federation is not compliant and the athletes cannot take part in any kind of qualifications, then the situation is clear. If you cannot qualify, you cannot participate in the Games.”
The IAAF is expected to demand Russia apologises for its behaviour, ends state interference in track and field and investigates athletes suspected of doping before it is allowed back in to competition.
Richard McLaren, a member of the Wada commission, has warned it could even recommend that the IOC suspends the IAAF when it releases part two of its report, which is expected late this year. Mutko does not believe it will come to that. “If there are no athletics [for us] in Rio, it will be a complete breakdown of the Olympics,” he said. “That cannot be allowed.”
