Dhe World Athletics Association wants to exclude the Russian Federation RusAF if the country has not paid the $ 6.31 million fine imposed by August 15. World Athletics (WA) announced this Thursday after a video conference of the Council. Russia had passed a deadline for paying the high fine by July 1st.
If the money is not transferred in time, it is extremely unlikely that Russian athletes will be able to take part in the Tokyo Olympics next year. The process that Russian athletes can apply for neutral athlete status remains suspended until payment is made.
Rune Andersen, head of the independent Russia task force, was disappointed that “very little has been seen in the change in the culture of Russian athletics” in the past five years. The task force had “spent an enormous amount of time and effort to support the reform of RusAF itself and Russian athletics for the benefit of all clean Russian athletes”. But RusAF’s response was inadequate.
In November 2015, RusAF was suspended for the first time due to nationwide doping in athletics in Russia. Since then, the lock has been extended more than a dozen times. After Russia failed to pay the first installment of a $ 10 million fine on time, speculation about an exclusion had occurred.
The high penance had been imposed in the course of the affair with the high jump indoor world champion Danil Lysenko. RusAF officials falsified documents to cover up missed Lysenko drug tests.
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