Governing Body Maintains Ban On Russian Athletics Team At World Events

Rune Andersen, the head of an IAAF task force on Russian doping

The governing body of world athletics said on July 31 that Russia has not made sufficient progress changing its culture of sports doping and will continue to be suspended from international competitions.

"Material progress has been made, but there are still issues that need to be resolved," said Rune Andersen, chairman of an International Association of Athletics Federations task force looking into doping in Russia.

"The main issue is that no meaningful testing is being conducted," he said.

The Russian anti-doping agency, which Andersen said used to carry out 19,000 drugs tests a year before it was suspended, currently is authorized to conduct only a couple of thousand tests a year and is still not "code compliant," he said.

Also, Russian authorities still have not fully acknowledged and accepted the findings published last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which found widespread, state-sponsored doping, Rune said.

"That needs to be resolved," he said, adding that the federation remains ready to work with Russia on establishing a "strong anti-doping culture."

"Although there is progress, there is still more work to be done," said Sebastian Coe, president of the world federation.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters