(ATR) Mikhail Butov will defend the federation’s anti-doping work to IAAF Council colleagues at the meeting on Friday that will consider whether to suspend Russia.
Around the Rings is told that the general secretary of the All-Russia Athletics Federation, one of the 27 council members, will get the opportunity to speak up for his federation against the allegations in WADA’s devastating report on state-sponsored doping in Russia.
After Butov’s statement, the ARAF leader will be asked to leave the call "for the wider discussion and the vote", ATR has learned.
The IAAF is expected to provisionally suspend Russia at the meeting via conference call scheduled to begin at 1900hrs CET.
Anything less would be seen by world sport and the public at large as weakness on the part of IAAF president Sebastian Coe, who is chairing the council.
WADA Independent Commission chair Richard Pound demanded the suspension at the launch of the 335-page report on Monday. The dossier detailed the extent of the doping scandal and the inaction of the IAAF and ARAF to root out the cheats.
A ban for Russia from international competition, which would need to be confirmed by an IAAF disciplinary panel, would jeopardize the country’s participation at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
But athletics superpower Russia seems likely to do everything to ensure it can send a delegation of track and field athletes to Rio. IOC president Thomas Bach in the past 24 hours said he expected Russia to get its anti-doping system in order and become WADA code compliant ahead of the Games.
After initial denials about the allegations and scale of the problem from Russian sports leaders, president Vladimir Putin last night pledged full cooperation to fix the problems.
At a press conference late Wednesday, Putin ordered an investigation into the doping scandal but said the cheats should be punished not all Russian athletes.
Sports minister Vitaly Mutko’s comments that Britain's anti-doping system were "even worse" because Russia’s doping cheats weren’t caught at the London Olympics prompted widespread condemnation.
Mutko later softened his stance, urging the IAAF, IOC and WADA to take a "reasonable, calm approach" to Russia’s anti-doping "shortcomings".
"No one has considered how much the country has done to improve the situation," Mutko was quoted in a report by Russian news agency TASS.
Putin has charged Mutko with conducting the internal investigation.
"Issues of fighting doping in sports are unfortunately still urgent and require constant attention. Regarding the latest events connected with our athletics federation, I ask the sports minister, all colleagues who are connected with sports in this or that way, to pay close attention to that," Putin said, according to TASS.
"It’s necessary to conduct an internal investigation of our own and ensure the most open, professional cooperation with international anti-doping structures," Putin added.
Reported by Mark Bisson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022
