IAAF announces exceptional eligibility guidelines for 'neutral' Russian athletes

    

Darya Klishina could be one of the 'neutral athletes' to represent Russiain Rio. (Photo: Getty Images

MONACO, June 23, 2016 - The IAAF published a set of guidelines for individual Russian athletes seeking exceptional eligibility to compete in international competitions, more specifically the Rio Olympic Games in six weeks' time.

The guidelines come following last week’s IAAF Council Meeting, where it was announced that the international athletics body would uphold is suspension of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) and its athletes ahead of Rio 2016.

During the Council Meeting, IAAF President Seb Coe announced a rule amendment which means that any individual athletes who can "clearly and convincingly show that they are not tainted by the Russian system" because they have been outside the country and subject to other effective anti-doping systems, should be able to apply for permission to compete in international competitions, not for Russia but as a neutral athlete.

There has since been ongoing confusion sparked by IOC president Thomas Bach on whether any such athletes would be eligible to compete under the Russian flag or not.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: "Both the Taskforce and the Doping Review Board have worked extremely hard to get to where we are today, just days away from the European Championships. We know there are some Russian athletes considering applying to compete in international competitions under this new rule so it is important they are all clear about the criteria under which their application will be reviewed.”

 

IAAF Statement on IOC Summit: No flag for Russian athletes

MONACO, June 22, 2016 - The IAAF Council on Friday unanimously accepted the recommendation of the IAAF Taskforce to maintain the suspension of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) and to amend the competition rules to allow Russian athletes to apply for eligibility, on an exceptional basis and subject to meeting strict criteria, to compete in international competitions, including the Olympic Games, in an individual capacity as neutral athletes, not under any country’s flag.
This decision has been unequivocally supported across sport and the IOC Summit unanimously agreed to fully respect the IAAF decision.
The IAAF will now work with the IOC to ensure the decision is respected and implemented in full.