Doha (AFP)

Christian Coleman, EPO in Kenya, suspension of Russia ... For the athletics it is the plaster of the captain Haddock: the doping cases have polluted these last weeks the approach of the Mondials which begin Friday in Doha (Qatar).

Moreover, the page of the biggest scandal, unveiled in 2014, is still not turned: the former president of the International Federation of Athletics (IAAF) Lamine Diack is awaiting trial in France, suspected of having been in the heart of a vast corruption scandal based on muffled positive controls.

- Christian Coleman: a few days near ... -

A favorite of the 100m World Cup, the American, runner-up world champion, was targeted by an investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) before being cleared on 2 September.

Usada blamed him for failing three times in anti-doping localization in less than a year: but the agency was mistaken about a date, extending the period to more than a year to a few days .

Coleman admitted several negligence but still settled his account with Usada, considering himself "victim" of a case that should not have been made public and taint his reputation.

"It's a shame (...) they ask the athletes to follow a regulation that they do not understand themselves!"

"I work hard, I drink water (...) and work even harder the next day, so I have never been tested positive and it will never happen," he said.

- Russia not out of the rut -

As a ritual, the IAAF closed the door on Monday for a return of the Russian federation for the twelfth time since its suspension in November 2015 and revelations of a vast institutional doping scandal.

After having met the criteria one by one for a few months (public recognition, payment of costs related to the scandal), Russia seemed on the right track.

But new developments have made his situation again precarious: the federation is accused of helping the jumper at height Danil Lysenko justify missed doping controls through false documents. Most importantly, 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. (AIU) for their investigations.

- Kenya: the pace of revelations -

The country king of the long distance race was again pinned by a report of the German television ZDF Sunday, affirming images in support that at least two athletes present at the Worlds were doped with the EPO, and that the federation (AK) covered doping cases.

On the brink of the exclusion of the Rio Games in 2016, Kenya believes it has introduced measures that are beginning to bear fruit with the creation of a national anti-doping agency (Adak), the establishment of a laboratory accredited by WADA in 2018 and the adoption of an anti-doping law.

"Since the creation of the National Anti-Doping Agency, the federation no longer carries out doping tests in any way and has no access to control results, so the accusations that AK was able to cover positive cases are a ridiculous minima, "reacted AK Monday.

Labeled as a country at risk, Kenya had to leave home the surprise winner of the 5,000m selections and his dolphin, both of which have not undergone enough unannounced controls this season.

- IAU at work -

In response to the widespread scandal of the Diack years, an independently functioning body was launched in April 2017 to investigate and sanction doping, corruption and fraud cases: the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

IAU has made several advances, in particular on the financing of anti-doping by the private sector on major marathons, and is multiplying the procedures whose various stages are now made public.

"I think I can say that we have made great progress in the past two years thanks to the focus on investigation and intelligence," IAU director Brett Clothier told AFP. better implanted in many places around the world. "

The organization will carry out 700 blood samples before the Worlds to complete the data of the biological passport of the athletes, before carrying out about 500 controls in margin of the competitions.

© 2019 AFP