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Russian athletics has until May to prove they are compliant with anti-doping standards

Russian athletics was issued a ban last November upon allegations of running a state-sponsored do...



Russian athletics has until Ma...
Golf

Russian athletics has until May to prove they are compliant with anti-doping standards

Russian athletics was issued a ban last November upon allegations of running a state-sponsored doping programme. 

At the time of the announcement, Seb Coe branded the system as one which 'failed athletes around the world' and said it was a 'shameful wake-up call' for the sport.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that the ban had been extended but, bizarrely, there is still a possibility that Russia could qualify for Rio.

The IAAF said while the Russia had shown ''considerable progress'' to prove their compliance with anti-doping standards, ''there is significant work still to be done to satisfy reinstatement conditions."

The current status on the situation, indicates that Russia now have until May to prove they are compliant with anti-doping standards, and speaking to BBC Sport, IAAF President Seb Coe admitted that he is unsure if that deadline affords Russia enough time to fix things.

''The answer to that is I don't know. We unanimously agreed that they(Russia) be given more time, some progress has been made but we want to see significant progress in some key areas. ''

''We recognise that this has been a problem for many years and not just uniquely Russian and that change is a long-term process but the verification that we have asked for, the criteria that we have asked for, is very clear.''

'My responsibility is the protection of the sport. I'm not here to be judged on how many athletes I can get to an Olympic games, I'm here to be judged on how many athletes that I can get from safe, secure systems to free, fair and open competition.''

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