D-Day for Russian athletes’ participation in Rio Olympics

1. What is being decided when the IAAF meets in Vienna on Friday? A simple question with big consequences: should Russia's track and field athletes be allowed to compete at this year's Olympics? They have been suspended from international competition since November following a damning report by the former World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) president Dick Pound, which found a "deep- rooted culture of cheating" and widespread state- sponsored doping. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAFF) now has to decide whether Russia has reformed enough for that ban to be lifted. 2. How strong was the evidence against Russian cheating? Overwhelming. The flood of evidence began with a German documentary in November 2014, which was based primarily on the testimony and video evidence of a former Russian anti-doping official Vitaly Stepanov and his wife, Yulia, a world-class 800m runner, and showed a number of athletes secretly admitting to using drugs. When asked at the time how many members of the Russian Olympic team had doped, the former discus thrower Evgenia Pecherina was blunt: "Most of them, the majority, 99 per cent. And you can get absolutely everything. Everything the athlete wants." 3. Why did it take a year for Russia's athletes to be banned? The documentary by Hajo Seppelt led to Wada setting up an independent commission led by Pound to investigate the claims of Russian doping, as well as sensational revelations about senior IAAF officials taking bungs to allow the Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova to compete while cheating. When it reported in November, it confirmed Seppelt's findings and hardened the link between Russian sport and the Kremlin – with Pound finding there was "direct intimidation and interference by the Russian state" in the supposedly independent Moscow drug-testing laboratory. 4. Why is the focus solely on Russian athletics? Seppelt's documentary also showed Rusada – the organisation tasked with exposing drugs cheats – was covering up positive tests in sports as diverse as swimming, athletics, cycling, biathlon, weightlifting and Nordic skiing, and that there was pressure from the Russian government to forget about prominent athletes who had failed tests. 5. What have the Russians been asked to do to get track and field athletes back into international competition? Seven months ago the IAAF set up a five-strong investigation team led by the Norwegian Rune Anderson to investigate Russia and outlined the criteria by which they would be judged. It included the need to immediately introduce disciplinary measures for banned coaches; implement a robust, transparent and efficient anti- doping testing programme and – crucially – to satisfying Wada and the IAAF that its officials, coaches and athletes have acted in accordance with Wada's anti-doping code. 6. What has been the reality? Few believe there has been significant change. An update by Wada on Wednesday detailed numerous violations of its rules when it has tried to take samples in Russia during the past seven months – including its testers being obstructed and intimidated by Russian security services and officials. The report, entitled Play True – Update on the Status of Russia Testing, also revealed that 736 tests required from Russian athletes were declined or cancelled and there were 52 positive tests and 111 whereabouts failures over the same period. It did not help Russia's case that last month, Grigory Rodchenkov, the director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory from 2005-2015, claimed he helped dozens of Russian athletes with a cocktail of banned substances and revealed how Russian anti-doping experts and members of the FSB had secretly replaced urine samples containing banned substances of medal winners with clean urine at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. 7. What is Russia's response? Russia insists they have done everything they has been asked by the IAAF and Wada. A strong PR campaign has been launched in recent days with Russian officials claiming that all potential Olympians have faced extra doping controls, that they have apologised for those athletes who have cheated and that the leadership of anti-doping agency, Rusada, and athletics federation, Araf, have been overhauled. 8. So what will happen in Vienna? Most anti-doping experts believe that Russia has not made enough reforms to lift the ban – and that Wada's latest report proves that. But enormous undercurrents of geopolitics are at play here too. Will the IAAF dare defy Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin? 9. When is the decision expected? Around 4pm Irish time. 10. If Russia are banned, is that the end of the matter? No. There are two avenues that Russia's athletes could explore. First, next Tuesday, in Lausanne, a meeting of IOC leaders, international sports federations and national Olympic and anti-doping bodies will consider "whether and if individual athletes should be given individual justice". Most insiders expect Russian athletes who have not tested positive will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Their argument will be that it is wrong to punish clean athletes for the crimes of others. Guardian Service