As many as 85 Russian athletes have applied to participate in the upcoming European Athletics Indoor Championships as authorized neutral athletes (ANA), a category introduced for the Russian athletes to compete in international sports events following the doping scandal, spokeswoman for the Russian Athletic Federation (RusAF) Natalia Yukhareva told Sputnik on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2019) As many as 85 Russian athletes have applied to participate in the upcoming European Athletics Indoor Championships as authorized neutral athletes (ANA), a category introduced for the Russian athletes to compete in international sports events following the doping scandal, spokeswoman for the Russian Athletic Federation (RusAF) Natalia Yukhareva told Sputnik on Friday.The event will be held in the Scottish city of Glasgow on March 1-3. Russian athletes were able to submit their applications for the event to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) until January 24, while the deadline for athletes from other countries is February 21.
"In total, 168 applications were received by the RusAF, 60 of them are simplified [for athletes who were earlier authorized by the IAAF to compete in sports events]. As of the morning on January 25, the RusAF processed and sent 155 applications to the IAAF. A total of 85 athletes out of 168 who submitted applications indicated the European championship in Glasgow as [the first competition of the season] in which they would like to compete," Yukhareva said.
Yukhareva also noted that 20 Russian athletes with ANA status met the eligibility criteria needed to compete in the upcoming competition, and 16 of them could potentially participate in the championship.
In 2017, only one Russian athlete, long jumper Darya Klishina, was allowed to compete in the European Athletics Indoor Championships since other Russian athletes were banned from participating in the wake of the doping scandal in the country.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accused Russia of multiple violations of anti-doping regulations in 2015. The following year, Richard McLaren, the head of WADA's investigative team, presented a two-part report that alleged the existence of a state-supported doping program in Russia during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Russian officials, including Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, have categorically denied the very possibility of the existence of a state-run doping program in the country, but have admitted there were some isolated cases of doping abuse.
