“Due to the progress made by Rusaf (Russian Athletics Federation) and in accordance with the reintegration plan, the Taskforce has recommended to the council an increase in the quota of neutral athletes, authorized to 20 in 2022.”said Rune Andersen, head of the Taskforce charged with judging Russia’s progress in the fight against doping.
“Rusaf makes constant progress to meet the conditions of its reintegration”he added.
However, the Taskforce has underlined a point of concern about the ANA (authorized neutral athlete) system: It estimates that the conditions are not fully met in terms of out-of-competition testing before an event.
The instance also deemed insufficient the investigative work carried out by Rusada (Russian anti-doping agency) on the coaches who directed doped athletes.
Two weeks after the suspension of Russia by the World Ahtletics congress was maintained, Andersen explained that they maintain “cautious optimism” about the future reintegration of the country in the international sphere.
Despite the country’s suspension in 2015, Russian athletes can compete since 2016 under a neutral flag, with strict conditions of respect for anti-doping rules.
The status of “authorized neutral athlete” was suspended in November 2019 because Rusaf assisted high jumper Danil Lysenko to deliver false documents to justify his breaches of location obligations in anti-doping controls.
It was relaunched in March following the development by Rusaf of “a reintegration plan” but the Russian quota was limited to ten athletes per competition.
Source From: Ambito
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