Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports Dmitry Svishchev suggested that the possible restoration of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) in March 2023 would not be complete.
Earlier, Rune Andersen, head of the World Athletics task force, said the final decision on ARAF’s restoration would be taken in 2023.
“Hope dies last, but there really isn’t much trust in our overseas partners, if you can call them that. We have already seen several changes in the federation more than once. Athletics are constantly in an unstable position and, of course, that does not suit any of us. Athletes are the first to suffer. We have great athletes and incredible young people growing up now. They all want to understand what the perspective of their performance is. I think the dialogue with the international federation must be maintained. And what we see today is the result of many years of work. I really hope that all this will happen and that our athletics federation will be restored. But it still seems to me that they will be reinstated on some sort of rights or with a trial period,” Svishchev told .
ARAF has been banned from World Athletics since 2015 due to a huge doping scandal. From then on, Russian athletes could participate in international competitions only after obtaining neutral status.
On March 1, 2022, World Athletics banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in international competitions.
Source : MatchTV
