RUSSIA TASKFORCE REPORT TO THE 53rd WORLD ATHLETICS CONGRESS, 2021
This is now the third Congress to which I have reported, as independent chair of theRussia Taskforce appointed by Council in 2015 to oversee RusAF’s efforts to bereinstated as a full member of World Athletics.
RusAF was originally suspended from membership in November 2015, after a WADA
Commission concluded that there was a deeply-rooted culture of doping in Russian
athletics. Council determined that, in order to be reinstated to membership, RusAF mustsatisfy various requirements designed to rehabilitate RusAF and to ensure that:
1. RusAF establishes a culture of zero tolerance towards doping in Russianathletics.
2. RusAF, RUSADA, and the public authorities in Russia work together to create aneffective anti-doping infrastructure that allows them and World Athletics (nowthe AIU) to work effectively on anti-doping activities in Russia and in respect ofRussian athletes.
3. World Athletics and its members can accordingly be satisfied that thereintegration of Russian athletes into international competitions will notjeopardise the integrity of those competitions.
In 2016, Council determined that even while RusAF remains suspended, Russian
athletes who can show they are not tainted by the culture of doping may apply tocompete in international competitions (including the Olympics and the WorldChampionships) as ‘Authorised Neutral Athletes’.
The 2017 Congress and the 2019 Congress endorsed and ratified Council’s decisions,and put the onus on RusAF to satisfy Council that the conditions set for its reinstatement
have been satisfied.
This strong stance has won World Athletics and its member federations the respect ofmany observers, who believe this is exactly what is needed to protect public confidence
in the integrity of the sport – an example that other sports should follow.
At the 2019 Congress, in Doha, I emphasised that changes to policies and procedures atRusAF will only work if RusAF’s stakeholders are truly committed to a new and genuine
culture of zero tolerance for doping. I noted that the AIU had just announced that it wasinvestigating an apparent cover-up by the then-RusAF President and his officials of awhereabouts violation by high jumper Danil Lysenko. I said that allegation suggested
that the change in culture required within RusAF may not have happened yet.
As you will recall, the RusAF President (Dmitri Shlyakhtin) and his alleged coconspirators subsequently resigned their posts, and an independent disciplinary
tribunal upheld the various charges against them and imposed lengthy bans from thesport. RusAF admitted the charges against it (failing to report anti-doping ruleviolations and interfering with the AIU’s investigation of those ADRVs), andsubsequently paid World Athletics a $5 million fine (with another $5 million suspended)
plus $1.3 million in costs. As a result, Council decided not to propose expulsion of RusAF,
provided that RusAF developed a new reinstatement plan, setting out a series ofdetailed requirements to embed the required change in culture, together withmilestones and Key Performance Indicators that would allow the Russia Taskforce toensure RusAF was making steady progress towards meeting those requirements.
1In November 2020, Peter Ivanov was elected as RusAF’s new president. He had to step
down in early 2021 when he was appointed deputy head of the federal government’sCompetition Commission (because the CAS decision in the WADA/RUSADA case stops
Russian government officials serving as sport officials for two years), but Irina Privalova
stepped in as acting president until Mr Ivanov’s planned return in November 2022, andshe has proved to be an able deputy.
Under the guidance first of Mr Ivanov and then of Ms Privalova, and with the input of
three international experts appointed by World Athletics, RusAF developed a detailed
reinstatement plan that was accepted by Council on the recommendation of theTaskforce in March 2021.
Importantly the three international experts have since remained in post, and they havebeen able to provide detailed reports and advice to the Taskforce. One of those experts
is in Moscow all of the time, another is there for much of the time, and between them
they are able to observe directly what is happening at RusAF, and so are able tocomment on whether the changes that are being made are just superficial, or whether
they signal a real change in culture.
The Taskforce has been in regular communication with Ms Privalova and her colleagues
at RusAF, and we have also received weekly reports from the international experts. Eachmonth RusAF has provided a formal written report on the progress made against theReinstatement Plan, and the international experts have provided their feedback on eachof those reports. The Taskforce has also convened periodic calls with the international
experts to discuss those reports and to address any issues as they arise.
Based on these reports and this feedback, I can report that:
RusAF has made steady progress towards meeting the conditions set for its
reinstatement to membership of World Athletics. The key milestones to datehave been met, as well as the various key performance indicators set out in theReinstatement Plan.

Furthermore, based on input from the international experts, the Taskforce does
feel that these changes are reflective of a new culture within RusAF, one that isgenerally looking to reject the doping practices of the past and to commit tocompeting clean moving forward, as a trusted member of the international
community, and a trusted ally to the AIU in its efforts to protect the integrity ofthe sport.

There are still people in Russian athletics who have not embraced this newculture, and there is still much work for RusAF to do to ensure that they do not
exercise influence, and instead it is the new generation of athletes and coaches
that push Russian athletics forward. But the new RusAF leadership has shown
what seems to be a genuine commitment to lead this change and ensure it
becomes deep-rooted in Russian athletics.

The status of RUSADA, the Russian national anti-doping organisation, remains
an issue of concern. In December 2020, the CAS declared RUSADA noncompliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and imposed a series ofconsequences and reinstatement conditions that have to be met in order for
RUSADA to be reinstated in December 2022. It is not clear, however, whether2those reinstatement conditions are being met or whether RUSADA is able toperform its role as the independent Russian NADO effectively. In the meantime,to try to help fill the gap, RusAF has agreed to the AIU conducting extra testing ofRusAF’s athletes, at RusAF’s cost.
Importantly, the new RusAF leadership has recognised that a true change inculture will take years to achieve, and it has therefore engaged very positively
with the Taskforce and the experts to develop a series of measures to apply after
RusAF has been reinstated, to ensure that there is no back-sliding once
reinstatement has been achieved. The Taskforce is encouraged by RusAF’s
positive approach on this issue, as it believes that such post-reinstatement
measures will be really important to give Council and the member federations ofWorld Athletics comfort that progress towards a genuine change in culture willcontinue in Russia even after reinstatement has been achieved.

It is important also to note that to date RusAF has also reimbursed World
Athletics for all of the costs of the reinstatement process, so that World Athletics
and its member federations are not out of pocket as a result of RusAF’s actions.

Based on all of these factors, I strongly encourage Congress to adopt the resolution
proposed by Council, i.e., to resolve, in exercise of its powers under Article 13.7 of theWorld Athletics Constitution, that the suspension of RusAF’s membership of World
Athletics will continue until Council decides that all of the conditions set by Council fromtime to time for the revocation of RusAF’s suspension and the consequent reinstatementof RusAF’s membership have been met. Those conditions will include agreement on thepost-reinstatement measures that I have referred to above.
Rune Andersen, Taskforce Chair
2 November 2021

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