World Athletics maintains ban on Russian athletes at global competitions

The International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics) has upheld the suspension of Russian athletes from global competitions, despite lifting doping-related sanctions on the Russian Athletics Federation (RAF), a spokesperson for the organisation told Kommersant.

Earlier, Russia’s Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev announced that World Athletics had removed all doping sanctions against RAF following the completion of external monitoring of the national federation’s activities. RAF head Petr Fradkov noted that “positive signals have emerged regarding the return of Russian athletes to the global stage.”

However, World Athletics confirmed that the ban on Russian athletes remains in effect. In 2022, the federation prohibited them from competing internationally under its auspices due to the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.

By Jeyhun Aghazada