World Athletics has reinstated the Authorized Neutral
Athlete (ANA) scheme to allow up to 10 Russians to qualify for this year’s
Olympic Games if they meet certain criteria, the organization confirmed.
اضافة اعلان
World Athletics’ Russia Taskforce chairman Rune Andersen
confirmed that a maximum of 10 athletes from the country would now be able to
apply to compete under a neutral flag ahead of the European summer season, if
Russia’s athletics federation (RusAF) continues to implement their plan to
“rebuild trust”.
RusAF has been suspended since 2015 after a report
commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass
doping among track and field athletes.
The process by which Russian athletes had in the past been cleared
to compete internationally despite the federation’s suspension was halted last
March.
There were 29 Russian athletes who took part under a neutral
flag at the World Championships in Doha in 2019.
Andersen said RusAF has been set certain key performance
indicators (KPI) in their bid to clean up the sport in the country and a
failure to implement these would likely see a blanket ban on athletes once
more.
“What might happen if the KPIs are not met?” Andersen told
reporters. “The task force will discuss internally and give a recommendation to
the council. It will then be about the nature of the breaches to know what will
happen.”
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