Russia risking permanent IAAF ban, Paul Put to coach Guinea [Sport]

World athletics body the IAAF on Tuesday extended Russia’s ban from international athletics over widespread doping. The country was warned it could face further sanctions this year.

Those sanctions could include ending the practice of allowing Russian athletes to compete as neutrals if they can prove they have not used performance-enhancing drugs, or in a more drastic measure, expelling Russia’s track and field federation from the IAAF.

Russia has been banned from the sport since November 2015, after the McLaren report exposed widespread doping.

As part of a pathway to reintegration, Russia was supposed to acknowledge that the doping scheme that lasted at least from 2008 to 2015 was part of a systematic effort to corrupt sports, but it has not done so.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe said his federation was fed up with what he described as foot-dragging by Russia’s sports officials, saying that there was nothing ambiguous about the criteria. He said: “We want the country and their athletes back, but we want the world to be in a position to trust.”

The IAAF announcement on Tuesday is in stark contrast to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision last month just days after the closing ceremony in Pyeongchang, to restore Russia to full membership status less than three months after issuing its own suspension.

Executive Director of the Russian Athletics Federation Alexander Parkin reacted to the announcement: “We had no hope of being reinstated by this Council and that is why we expected such a decision. We do not yet know the exact number of athletes who could participate in future (international) competitions, but in the meantime athletes continue to train and hope to participate in neutral status.”

Paul Put named Guinea coach

After the sacking of Kanfory Bangoura at the CHAN 2018, the Syli Nationale of Guinea have found his replacement, Belgian tactician Paul Put who last month resigned as Kenya coach.

Guinea have had more than 80 candidates applying to become the new national coach, according to the country’s football authority (Feguifoot).

Put led Burkina Faso to the runner-up position at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, losing to Nigeria in the final.

And now his main task is to guide the Syli Nationale for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. His his first game in charge will be an international friendly against Mauritania in Nouakchott on March 24.

Guinea currently top of Group H of the 2019 Nations Cup qualifiers ahead of Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Central African Republic.

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