The International Athletics Federation announced this Tuesday (1st) the exclusion of athletes, officials and other officials from Russia and Belarus from international competitions in the sport, due to the war in Ukraine.
The measure imposed by the body, which follows the recommendation made by the International Olympic Committee not to invite athletes from both countries to tournaments, takes effect immediately.
With this, no Russian or Belarusian competitor will be able to compete in the Team Race Walking World Championship, which will be held on the 4th and 5th in Muscat, Oman.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will also not be able to participate in the World Indoor Championships in March in Serbia and the World Championships in Athletics in July in the United States.
“The world is horrified by what Russia has done, supported and encouraged by Belarus. World leaders have tried to prevent this invasion by diplomatic means, but to no avail, given Russia’s unwavering intention to invade Ukraine,” the Federation president said. International Athletics, Sebastian Coe.
“The unprecedented sanctions being imposed on Russia and Belarus by countries and industries across the world appear to be the only peaceful way to stop and deactivate Russia’s current intentions and restore peace.”
The Russian Athletics Federation has been suspended from the international federation since 2015, due to doping cases with Russian athletes.
A 323-page report released in November of that year in Geneva by an independent commission created by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found that Russia had developed a “deep-rooted culture of fraud” in its sport, especially athletics.
After 12 months of investigation, the task force found evidence that the government (through its secret service), sports federation, doctors, athletes and coaches participated in the scheme.
President Vladimir Putin has always maintained that the accusations and punishments, which included sanctions against nearly 1,000 athletes, the loss of 14 medals won in London-2012 and the country’s four-year ban from international competition, decided in 2019 (later lowered to two years), were part of a campaign by the West against their country in the wake of the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In recent editions of the Olympic Games, Russia was banned from competing under its name, flag and anthem.
The International Athletics Federation also said on Tuesday that it will discuss at the next board meeting, scheduled for the 9th and 10th of this month, the suspension of the Belarus Athletics Federation.
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