A tough task

Rune Andersen pursues his efforts to reinstate Russia into international athletics.

A tough task3
Anti-Doping Norway's Special Advisor, Rune Andersen.

On Friday June 17, Rune Andersen and his team concluded that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) should maintain its suspension of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) from international competitions. The IAAF Council members voted unanimously to follow the recommendations of the Taskforce.

RusAF has been suspended from membership of IAAF since November 2015. They must now continue their work to meet the IAAF’s reinstatement conditions.

Anti-Doping Norway's Special Advisor shares his impressions with us:

- How does it feel to be in the center of attention of such a major international event?

- It has been a challenging and tough task, and I am satisfied with the outcome and the way it has communicated to all relevant parties.

- How confident are you that the conclusion you have made is correct?

- I am confident our recommendations are perfectly appropriate.

- How has the decision to maintain the suspension of RusAF been received?

- I think in general it has been received favorably. Especially when you go through the report, and I urge everyone to do so, it describes clearly what conditions have been and not been met. The conclusions we reached are based on various input we obtained and which is highlighted in the report.

- What do you believe will be the outcome of such an evident conclusion?

- My work has been to get Russia back into international athletics as soon as possible, and assist Russia in fulfilling the criteria IAAF set in the original document in late 2015. The Russians have failed to meet the Verification Criteria and Reinstatement Conditions and therefore the conclusion not to reinstate Russia in international athletics was evident.
My work continues in assisting RusAF fulfilling the requirements outlined in the Terms of Reference.

- What is next?

- I assume we're going to continue to meet our counterpart, the Interim Coordination Committee, appointed by the Russian Olympic Committee. The committee has representatives from the government, the Olympic Committee and the Athletics Federation. The requirements that still not have been met, will have to be a focus as we move forward.

- Is it still possible that we'll see Russian athletes in the Rio Olympic Games?

- Yes. Athletes who have been subject to credible anti-doping systems outside the Russia, do have the possibility to apply to IAAF to take part in the Olympic Games under a neutral flag. Athletes who live in Russia and have been subject to the Russian anti-doping system, will not be able to participate.