The Terms of Reference of the IAAF Taskforce, which include the Reinstatement Conditions and Verification Criteria concerning the suspended IAAF Member Federation the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF), have been sent to ARAF and can be downloaded here.
The Terms of Reference were approved by the IAAF Taskforce in consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and with the agreement of IAAF President Sebastian Coe.
The Terms of Reference were approved by the IAAF Taskforce in consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and with the agreement of IAAF President Sebastian Coe.
“The conditions we have announced leave no room for doubt. Russia must demonstrate verifiable change across a range of criteria and satisfy our taskforce that those criteria will be met permanently. There is no timeline for Russia. It is up to them to implement verifiable change both in anti-doping practise and culture,” commented Sebastian Coe.
Reinstatement ConditionsThe Terms of Reference explain that ARAF has to demonstrate (by its own efforts but also by securing the support and assistance of other relevant parties, as necessary) that the following conditions (the Reinstatement Conditions) have been met, and can reasonably be expected to continue to be met moving forward:
(1) compliance by ARAF with all of the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Programme and of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules and Regulations that are applicable to a national federation;
(2) both the IAAF and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency ‘RUSADA’ (once RUSADA has been declared Code-compliant again) are able to carry out their respective anti-doping activities in Russia and in relation to Russian athletes and athlete support personnel effectively and without interference;
(3) as a result the participation of Russian athletes and athlete support personnel will not jeopardise the integrity of international competitions.
Verification CriteriaThe Terms of Reference list various tasks that ARAF will have to carry out to the satisfaction of the IAAF Taskforce (the Verification Criteria) to help demonstrate that the Reinstatement Conditions have been met. In summary:
• Cleaning house: ARAF must demonstrate that none of its directors, officers or staff has any past involvement in doping, must sever ties with anyone who cannot meet this requirement (including Dr Portugalov, pending the outcome of the case against him), and must introduce a comprehensive code of ethics and reasonable term limits for all of its officials moving forward.
• Resolving pending disciplinary cases: All of the pending disciplinary cases against Russian athletes and athlete support personnel must be resolved expeditiously (generally, within three months). The cases involving international-level athletes and/or their support personnel (including the nine cases referred by the WADA Independent Commission) will be prosecuted by the IAAF before Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). WADA will determine how the cases involving national-level athletes and/or their support personnel will be resolved.
• Investigating potential further cases: ARAF must conduct thorough investigations, following a process agreed with and transparent to the IAAF Taskforce, into any further potential doping cases involving Russian athletes and/or athlete support personnel.
The investigations must include interviewing all athletes who may have been provided with drugs and/or counselled on doping by athlete support personnel named in the WADA Independent Commission’s report, as well as all athletes who have represented Russia at senior level in the past four years and all international-level athletes who have been sanctioned for doping in the past four years.
Where reliable evidence of doping is developed, the IAAF will take appropriate disciplinary action, supported as necessary by ARAF. In consultation with WADA, the IAAF will consider offering mitigated penalties to anyone who provides substantial assistance in uncovering the involvement of others in doping activities. It will pursue aggravated sanctions against anyone found guilty of threatening or intimidating athletes or Doping Control Officers (DCOs).
• Drug-testing and results management: Until RUSADA is back in operation, the IAAF will organise the drug-testing of the top tier of Russian athletes, including putting certain of those athletes in its registered testing pool and collecting whereabouts information from them for purposes of out-of-competition testing.
Any athlete who wishes to compete in an international event after ARAF is reinstated to IAAF membership will have to demonstrate that he/she has undergone at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (and, for endurance athletes, at least three Athlete Biological Passport tests, blood and urine) in the six months prior to the event.
All samples will be collected by international DCOs and shipped to WADA-accredited laboratories outside Russia for analysis. The IAAF will manage the results of such testing, including prosecuting any apparent Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs), with ARAF providing all necessary support and assistance.
• Establishing a strong anti-doping culture moving forward: ARAF must demonstrate that its athletes, athlete support personnel and officials are committed to clean sport moving forward. This includes obtaining unequivocal signed declarations from them to that effect, providing them with comprehensive anti-doping education, and actively promoting an open anti-doping culture. Creating a mechanism for whistle-blowing to the IAAF or WADA if they see or hear of any doping practices.
ARAF will also stop any practices or systems that could incentivise doping, and will ensure effective deterrence of future doping through broad publication of doping bans, imposition of additional monetary penalties for doping, and the proposed criminalisation of the distribution and trafficking of prohibited substances under Russian law.
Next stepsARAF will confirm a coordination committee of suitably qualified representatives who are ready and willing to ensure that ARAF implements the Verification Criteria. The CVs and full contact details of the members of the coordination committee will be provided to the IAAF Taskforce.
The ARAF coordination committee members must meet regularly together and with the IAAF Taskforce as necessary to monitor progress and to discuss future steps. This will include agreeing the date and schedule of the first visit of the IAAF Taskforce to Russia which will take place in January 2016.
Reinstatement ConditionsThe Terms of Reference explain that ARAF has to demonstrate (by its own efforts but also by securing the support and assistance of other relevant parties, as necessary) that the following conditions (the Reinstatement Conditions) have been met, and can reasonably be expected to continue to be met moving forward:
(1) compliance by ARAF with all of the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Programme and of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules and Regulations that are applicable to a national federation;
(2) both the IAAF and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency ‘RUSADA’ (once RUSADA has been declared Code-compliant again) are able to carry out their respective anti-doping activities in Russia and in relation to Russian athletes and athlete support personnel effectively and without interference;
(3) as a result the participation of Russian athletes and athlete support personnel will not jeopardise the integrity of international competitions.
Verification CriteriaThe Terms of Reference list various tasks that ARAF will have to carry out to the satisfaction of the IAAF Taskforce (the Verification Criteria) to help demonstrate that the Reinstatement Conditions have been met. In summary:
• Cleaning house: ARAF must demonstrate that none of its directors, officers or staff has any past involvement in doping, must sever ties with anyone who cannot meet this requirement (including Dr Portugalov, pending the outcome of the case against him), and must introduce a comprehensive code of ethics and reasonable term limits for all of its officials moving forward.
• Resolving pending disciplinary cases: All of the pending disciplinary cases against Russian athletes and athlete support personnel must be resolved expeditiously (generally, within three months). The cases involving international-level athletes and/or their support personnel (including the nine cases referred by the WADA Independent Commission) will be prosecuted by the IAAF before Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). WADA will determine how the cases involving national-level athletes and/or their support personnel will be resolved.
• Investigating potential further cases: ARAF must conduct thorough investigations, following a process agreed with and transparent to the IAAF Taskforce, into any further potential doping cases involving Russian athletes and/or athlete support personnel.
The investigations must include interviewing all athletes who may have been provided with drugs and/or counselled on doping by athlete support personnel named in the WADA Independent Commission’s report, as well as all athletes who have represented Russia at senior level in the past four years and all international-level athletes who have been sanctioned for doping in the past four years.
Where reliable evidence of doping is developed, the IAAF will take appropriate disciplinary action, supported as necessary by ARAF. In consultation with WADA, the IAAF will consider offering mitigated penalties to anyone who provides substantial assistance in uncovering the involvement of others in doping activities. It will pursue aggravated sanctions against anyone found guilty of threatening or intimidating athletes or Doping Control Officers (DCOs).
• Drug-testing and results management: Until RUSADA is back in operation, the IAAF will organise the drug-testing of the top tier of Russian athletes, including putting certain of those athletes in its registered testing pool and collecting whereabouts information from them for purposes of out-of-competition testing.
Any athlete who wishes to compete in an international event after ARAF is reinstated to IAAF membership will have to demonstrate that he/she has undergone at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (and, for endurance athletes, at least three Athlete Biological Passport tests, blood and urine) in the six months prior to the event.
All samples will be collected by international DCOs and shipped to WADA-accredited laboratories outside Russia for analysis. The IAAF will manage the results of such testing, including prosecuting any apparent Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs), with ARAF providing all necessary support and assistance.
• Establishing a strong anti-doping culture moving forward: ARAF must demonstrate that its athletes, athlete support personnel and officials are committed to clean sport moving forward. This includes obtaining unequivocal signed declarations from them to that effect, providing them with comprehensive anti-doping education, and actively promoting an open anti-doping culture. Creating a mechanism for whistle-blowing to the IAAF or WADA if they see or hear of any doping practices.
ARAF will also stop any practices or systems that could incentivise doping, and will ensure effective deterrence of future doping through broad publication of doping bans, imposition of additional monetary penalties for doping, and the proposed criminalisation of the distribution and trafficking of prohibited substances under Russian law.
Next stepsARAF will confirm a coordination committee of suitably qualified representatives who are ready and willing to ensure that ARAF implements the Verification Criteria. The CVs and full contact details of the members of the coordination committee will be provided to the IAAF Taskforce.
The ARAF coordination committee members must meet regularly together and with the IAAF Taskforce as necessary to monitor progress and to discuss future steps. This will include agreeing the date and schedule of the first visit of the IAAF Taskforce to Russia which will take place in January 2016.
By: Editor
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