Moscow (AFP)
Several Russian athletes including star Maria Lasitskene on Wednesday called on their federation to settle the fine due to World Athletics, without which they would be deprived of participating in competitions under a neutral banner.
The Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) has until July 1 to pay a fine of five million dollars (4.4 million euros) to which it was sentenced in March for its breaches of anti-doping rules .
Her quota of ten Russian athletes authorized to run under neutral banner will be suspended if she does not pay within the time limit.
World Athletics spokeswoman Nicole Jeffery, quoted by the public news agency TASS, said Monday that Russia has still not paid its fine.
"We ask the leaders of the Federation to express openly, within a reasonable time, the reality of the capacities of the athletes to compete on the international scene and a clear plan of exit from the crisis", wrote in an open letter on Instagram Maria Lasitskene , Sergey Shubenkov and Anzhelika Sidorova.
"Three weeks before the deadline, it seems that Russian athletes will again miss the next international season, but also the Tokyo Olympic Games," they add, explaining that "non-compliance with the obligations contracted by the VFLA will result in the 'final exclusion of Russian athletes from the international federation ".
World Athletics froze in November 2019 the process allowing handpicked athletes to compete outside Russia, the Russian Federation is accused of helping 2017 height vice world champion Danil Lysenko escape punishment for breaches of its localization obligations for unannounced checks.
The body also froze the reintegration process of Russia, suspended since November 2015 for having established an institutional doping system.
In March, World Athletics authorized a maximum of ten Russian athletes to compete under the neutral banner in the competitions and the Olympic Games in Tokyo, scheduled for 2021.
Among them could be the high jumper Maria Lasitskene, the 2015 world champion in 110m hurdles Sergey Shubenkov or the 2019 world pole champion Anzhelika Sidorova.
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