Seb Coe has suggested that despite some progress, Russia’s return to World Athletics remains uncertain due to broader challenges.
World Athletics president Seb Coe has explained why Russia might not once again participate in the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan later this year.
At first, the nation was banned from World Athletics but now it is due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. World Athletics has implemented strict rules where no Russian athlete will be allowed to participate even as a neutral athlete, unlike the International Olympic Committee which had that option.
Seb Coe explained that the doping menace is slowly dying down especially after they implemented a new body and very vigorous testing.
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The IOC presidential candidate was proud to explain that Russia has made very significant steps when it comes to doping. However, he maintained the strict stance that the nation was locked out of the World Athletics events to protect the larger percentage of clean athletes.
“Well, there are two very distinct issues we are talking about and one of them is the doping challenge that I confronted very early in my career at World Athletics,” Seb Coe said in an interview with ABC Sport.
“My council and the executive board were really clear that the integrity of our sport is non-negotiable.
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“Their job is not weeding out the cheats, they are there to protect the 99% of clean athletes who want to compete freely, fairly and openly. That is why you have an anti-doping system and I’m pleased to say we have recovered a new spot in Russia, there is a new board in place and an integrity unit.”
He hinted that Russia might have returned to World Athletics but the ongoing war has also hindered the process and they might have to wait a little bit longer.
Seb Coe added that there is a World Athletics team that usually analyses the situations on the ground and advises on whether it would be safe to have Russia back or not and as things stand, it is unsafe.
“The geopolitical challenge between Russia and Ukraine is another issue that different federations have had to face and there is a group in place that monitors the situation and gives ideas on when to potentially bring Russia back to our sport. On the anti-doping front, we have made very good progress,” Seb Coe said.
Russian athletes have not been able to compete since November 2015 after the state-sponsored doping was exposed.
The federation was reinstated after meeting conditions set by World Athletics’ Russia Taskforce, however, the athletes remain excluded.
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