Russia’s national team athletes train at their ground in Sochi, Russia, yesterday. The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) decision to suspend Russia from the sport was too harsh but Russia must do everything to rectify the situation, the acting head of the Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA), was quoted as saying.       

AFP/Moscow


The acting president of All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF), expressed his hope yesterday that the country’s beleaguered ruling track and field body would regain its IAAF membership within three months.
World athletics’ ruling body the IAAF on Friday provisionally suspended ARAF from international competition over claims of state-sponsored doping revealed in a shocking report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission.
“We’ve discussed the IAAF decision and worked out a crisis plan,” Vadim Zelichenok told the R-Sport news agency after an extraordinary ARAF meeting.
“We also discussed the measures that will help us to restore our IAAF membership in two or three months.
“Our main objective is to ensure our athletes’ participation in the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro, to restore their status.”
Zelichenok also said the sport’s world governing body was punishing Russia to divert attention from its own failings, the state-owned R-Sport agency reported.
“We understand that the publication of the second part of the WADA report will deal a serious blow to the IAAF. This partially explains such a tough decision with regard to Russia’s Athletics Federation,” Vadim Zelichenok, the acting head of the Federation, was quoted by R-Sport as saying.
“It was intended to divert the blow from themselves,” he said.
Russian Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Saturday Russia had told WADA that the IAAF was hiding doping cases.
Former IAAF president, Lamine Diack, is being investigated by French police over allegations he received bribes to cover up positive doping tests of Russian athletes.
The commission has so far withheld other aspects of the IAAF’s actions regarding Russia as they form part of an investigation by Interpol into international corruption involving officials and athletes.
On Sunday, R-Sport quoted Mutko as saying there was an attempt to shift all blame to Russia.
“Russia is not the main problem in the world athletics. Yes, there are problems, we do not deny it, but the Russian problems did not begin in Russia. People have been playing by the rules established in the world athletics,” Mutko said.    
Meanwhile, Russia’s sports minister Mutko, who also participated in the ARAF meeting, said he was hoping the country’s athletes would have an opportunity to compete under Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC) flag until the end of the ban.
“We will propose to the ROC to ask the IAAF and the International Olympic Committe (IOC) to allow our athletes to compete under our Olympic Committee flag,” ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Mutko as saying.
The minister added that Russia would possibly pass a law, which making doping a criminal offence.
“We should do everything possible to keep our sport clean, to protect our athletes’ health,” Mutko said.
“For those, who refuse to understand it we will put the criminal responsibility into action.”
The IAAF Council suspended Russia on Friday following the publication of a damning report by an independent commission set up by WADA on mass doping in Russian athletics.
Although the suspension is provisional, without a time limit and with immediate effect, eight months ahead of the 2016 Olympics questions remain whether a Russian athletics team will be on the road to Rio.
The length of Russia’s exile depends on the country implementing adequate anti-doping measures, and can only be lifted by a new vote of the IAAF council whose next meeting is scheduled for Monaco on November 26-27.
In the worst case scenario ARAF have four months to propose solutions before going before the council again.