Russian athletics missed the deadline of July 1 to pay part of a fine of millions of dollars, making the chances of many international athletes playing as a neutral in this country shaken.
Russian athletics can hardly get the penalty removed when the doping scandal is repeated
Russia was given a deadline on July 1 to pay $ 5 million. This is a part of a fine for violating anti-doping rules – so that the country’s honest athletes can qualify to play under one card neutral flag.
The approval process for neutral Russian athletes was suspended last November. This was after WA (formerly the World Athletics Federation) said the RUSAF had obstructed ongoing anti-doping investigations.
Russia has been struggling to get its ban on international athletics from 2015 because of repeated doping scandals. Russian athletes missed out on the 2016 Olympics due to the ban. They missed the deadline on July 1 would lead to fears of continued failure to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. This sporting event was rescheduled for August 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement published on social media, the RUSAF said the federation’s leaders held a meeting on June 30 but did not appear to detail the fine. Several athletes and netizens reacted to the post on social networks with exasperation and criticism, in which pictures appeared for the move of RUSAF that led to the coffin.
Some Russian athletes write letters to ask for help from President Putin
Previously, the world high jump champion Maria Lasitskene had vehemently criticized Yurchenko. He was elected RUSAF President in February with a promise to overhaul the federation. He also promised to persuade honest Russian athletes to compete in the athletics match.
Last month, several other top athletes wrote a letter asking for help from Russian President Vladimir Putin. They called on him to pay attention to the problem of his country’s athletics.