In light of media inquiries into sanctions announced yesterday in the Russian media, the IAAF would like to clarify a number of points.
All athletes were caught under the IAAF Athlete Biological Passport programme (ABP) although, as per IAAF Rules, the cases are sent to the Russian Federation (ARAF) for adjudication.
The IAAF is satisfied that we have found aggravating circumstances in all cases, as we requested when referring the case to the Russian authorities.
As a result of these cases, major international titles will be redistributed, BUT not until the IAAF has received, and carefully analysed, the full reasoned decision from ARAF to ensure they are in strict compliance with IAAF Rules.
As a result of these five new cases, a total of 23 elite Russian athletes have now been sanctioned under the IAAF ABP programme which was launched in 2009 (37 athletes in total from all nations have been sanctioned in this period as ABP cases).
The number of Russian doping cases in athletics generally, and in race walking specifically, is a major concern for the IAAF and we are fully investigating recent doping allegations in Russian athletics, with WADA’s support.
