Small victory or short defeat? Russian athletics discovered the decisions taken regarding it by the World Athletics Council on Thursday March 12 in Monaco, without really knowing which way to lean.
Sebastian Coe and the members of the Council debated once again, at the headquarters of the international organization, a subject that has become essential to their meetings since the end of 2015: Russia. They could have decided. They chose a middle path.
In the good news for Russia, the process of athlete eligibility for international competitions has been relaunched. It was put on hold after the discovery of an attempted cover-up by the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) of a case of doping by high jumper Danil Lysenko.
Russian athletes can therefore once again apply for neutrality status. Passes will not be limited in number, at least for one-day competitions and international World Athletics meetings.
On the other hand, the Council of the International Federation has set the maximum number of Russians who will be able to compete in the Tokyo 10 Games at 2020, still under the guise of neutrality. On the double condition, of course, that the Games take place and that Russia is not excluded in its entirety, as recommended by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Why such a number? Mystery. At the Rio 2016 Games, the IAAF allowed only one Russian athlete, long jumper Darya Klishina, to enter the stadium. But there were 49 the following year at the World Championships in London, then 28 last year at the world championships in Doha. The gauge increases on one side, but decreases on the other.
We will still have to wait before knowing the "lucky" privileged ones, but the three-time world champion in height, Mariya Lasitskene, the world champion in pole vault, Anzhelica Sidorova, and the hurdler Sergey Shubenkov, would be almost certain to draw one of the correct numbers.
The bad news now. It is financial. The World Athletics Council took out its calculator on Thursday in Monaco, added its sums and waited for the result. It is counted in millions of dollars.
RusAF is fined $10 million for its violations of anti-doping rules. It will have to pay half of it no later than July 1, 2020. In the event of non-payment, the process of eligibility of its athletes for neutrality status would be immediately suspended. Clearly, Russia will have to take out its checkbook to hope to see a handful of its athletes defend their chances at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The rest of the sum, $5 million, is placed on standby for a period of two years. But Russia could be forced to pay him immediately for the slightest misbehavior on the issue of doping.
For the rest, nothing very spectacular. World Athetics announced the creation of a commission, one more, responsible for developing a detailed plan “ to anchor zero tolerance for the culture of doping throughout Russian athletics. » In particular, it will include at least two representatives appointed by the RusAF Athletes' Commission and two international experts.
For Sebastian Coe, the glass seems only half full. Not full enough, but not too empty either. “ I am not satisfied with the situation, but I think this package of measures was necessary, realistic and proportionate, he explained after leaving the meeting, quoted by theAFP. JI wrote an uncompromising letter to RusAF and the Russian Sports Minister, I am happy that we got the response we wanted, namely an acknowledgment of their guilt and contrition. »
Comment from Margarita Pakhnotskaya, vice-president of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA): “ Che decisions cannot be called humiliating for Russia. We can work with it. » So get to work. Hurry up.
