Paris (AFP)

Russian doping on the Council's agenda, the controversial Diamond League reform and the awarding of the Women's and Men's "Athlete of the Year" awards: the menu promises to be loaded for the International Federation on Friday and Saturday in Monaco.

. Russia still and always

As at every meeting of the Council of the International Federation, now renamed World Athletics, the record of Russia will be on the table in Monaco. Suspended since November 2015 for having set up an institutional doping system, the country has filled one by one in recent months the criteria demanded by the Task Force to judge its progress in the fight against doping (public recognition, payment of costs related to scandal). But new elements have complicated his situation and do not really advocate reintegration.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is investigating a possible falsification of data from the Moscow Laboratory - the heart of the doping system between 2011 and 2015 - forwarded to WADA and the Athletics Integrity Unit (AMA). AIU) for their investigations. The WADA Executive Committee is scheduled to meet on December 9th to review the ongoing proceedings against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) and to take possible sanctions, which could include exclusion from the Olympic Games. Tokyo in 2020. It is likely that the International Athletics Federation will want to wait for the outcome of this case before ending the ban on Russia.

Worse, the AIU announced on Thursday the suspensions of five officials of the Russian athletics federation (Rusaf) involved in a dark matter of supplying false documents to the vice-world champion (2017) of the high jump Danil Lysenko for the to assist in anti-doping disciplinary proceedings.

. A reform that goes wrong

By announcing the elimination of the triple jump, the 200 meters, the 3000 meters steeplechase and the discus of the program of a number of meetings of the Diamond League from 2020, the International Federation, anxious to reduce the number of disciplines to seduce broadcasters, fired powder and raised a slingshot wind among the athletes.

The American Christian Taylor, double Olympic triple jump champion, took the lead by creating an association of athletes to make their voices heard. He should make a special trip to Monaco to meet World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe.

. Who will be the athletes of the year?

Once the heavy topics are evacuated, it will be time to celebrate the heroes of 2019, Saturday during the traditional ceremony held each year in the Principality. For the "Best Athlete" award, US Noah Lyles, world champion in the 200m and 4x100m sprint in Doha, is expected to have as its main competitors Kenyan world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first man to go under. the 2 hours at the marathon (1h 59 min 40 sec) during an unauthorized event organized by its sponsor in Vienna on October 12, and the Norwegian Karsten Warholm, indisputable king of the 400m hurdles and author of the second fastest time of all time (46 sec 92). The other two nominees (Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, world gold medal winner over 10,000m and in cross-country, American Sam Kendricks, double world champion pole vault) will probably struggle to compete.

In the ladies, the battle is more open. It will not be easy to decide 400m hurdles world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad (52 sec 16), Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser, who this year added a new 100m world title to her rich collection, the Dutchman Sifan Hassan, author of an unprecedented double 1500m-10.000m in Doha and selected despite his membership of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP) and the suspension of his trainer Alberto Salazar for "incitement" to doping, Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, fresh recordwoman marathon world (2:14:04), and Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas, the second jumping triple in history (15.41m).

© 2019 AFP