Doping: the boss of Russian athletics and officials suspended for "obstruction of an investigation"

Paris (AFP)

President of the Russian Athletics Federation (Rusaf) and several officials have been temporarily suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for "obstructing an investigation" against the high jumper Danil Lysenko, IAU announced in a statement Thursday.

The IAU procedure, in charge of anti-doping in athletics, is aimed at Rusaf, five of his officials, as well as the athlete and his coach. They are accused of providing false documents to allow the vice-world champion 2017 to escape a penalty for breaches of its location obligations for the "no shows".

In its statement, the IAU refers to "serious violations" of the anti-doping rules by Rusaf, citing in particular President Dmitri Chliakhtine, Executive Director Alexander Parkin, and the coordinator of anti-doping in the federation Elena Ikonnikova.

"We have only received all the documents today, and our lawyers are reviewing the circumstances of the cases and the charges, which is a provisional stay. and its details are confidential, "spokeswoman of the Russian Athletics Federation Natalia Ioukhareva told the official TASS news agency.

The Rusaf has been suspended by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) since November 2015, after the revelation of a doping scandal, with doping cases of Russian athletes covered by the national federation.

Since then, only athletes considered to be irreproachable can line up on neutral flag athletics competitions.

Danil Lysenko was part of this list of IAAF-sanctioned athletes to participate in the 2017 London World Championships, where he won silver under the neutral flag.

IAU notified him of a third "no show" on June 25, 2018 in the space of 12 months, which is synonymous with an anti-doping rule violation. Lysenko was temporarily suspended on 3 August 2018, three days before the opening of the European Championships in Berlin.

The IAU conducted its investigation for fifteen months, first on the justifications put forward by the athlete, then on the involvement of Rusaf officials in providing false documents.

© 2019 AFP