New Name for IAAF and Russia Still Banned After Latest IAAF Council Meeting

By Adam Kopet

The IAAF Council met in Monaco this past weekend and voted on several issues facing the world governing body of track and field, cross country and road racing.

Big news came in the form of a decision to re-brand the organization as World Athletics, instead of the current International Association of Athletics Federations. The new name comes with a new logo as well. The new name and logo will officially be adopted in October after the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Doha, Qatar.

In other news, Russia continues to find itself banned by the IAAF. Some progress was reported to have been made toward meeting the reinstatement requirements, however, the IAAF Taskforce reported some disturbing allegations of banned coaches and doctors continuing to work with athletes as well as Russian officials attempting to cover-up a positive doping test by a Russian athlete.

The next IAAF Council meeting is scheduled for September in Doha. That will be too late for Russia to be able to participate in the World Championships. This will be the second World Championships Russia has missed since the country was banned from international competition in Nov. 2015.

It had been previously reported that the Abbott World Marathon Majors and the Athletics Integrity Unit had come to an agreement to boost anti-doping testing in road races. The IAAF Council voted to adopt a funding model to better provide out-of-competition testing for athletes who compete in road races.

In 2018, 76 percent of IAAF Gold Label race winners were not part of the out-of-competition testing pool. Of podium finishers in those races, the percentage improved slightly to 74 percent. These figures do not apply to Abbott World Marathon Majors races, which include their own anti-doping program.

The new funding model will require races, athlete managers and athletes to contribute an anti-doping fund. Along with increases in money from the IAAF and the Athletics Integrity Unit, the plan will be to increase the out-of-competition testing pool for road racing athletes to 300. The Athletics Integrity Unit currently tests 20-30 athletes out-of-competition, as it does for every discipline it oversees.