By Lori Ewing
BUDAPEST, Sept 13 (Reuters) – World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Sunday that the governing body’s position on the exclusion of Russian athletes had not changed ahead of an upcoming Court of Arbitration for Sport case, while acknowledging the need for a resolution.
Russian Athletics last month filed a fresh appeal with CAS challenging sanctions imposed by World Athletics, which has barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Our position hasn’t changed, and this isn’t about politics or passports. It’s about the integrity of competition,” Coe told reporters on the final day of the inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
“From the age of 18, I believe that every position I’ve taken… it’s about integrity and it’s about competition, and that matters to me.”
Coe declined to discuss the federation’s legal strategy ahead of the arbitration proceedings but said World Athletics would continue to defend its stance.
“So our position won’t change,” he said. “And look, yes, this does need to be resolved, and I’m acutely aware of that. (But) I don’t think our legal teams would be particularly thankful if I laid out our approach on this.”
The comments came a month after Russian Athletics confirmed a new CAS filing, following an initial filing in July, aimed at overturning sanctions it says prevent it from fully representing Russian athletes internationally and participating in World Athletics decision-making processes.
Despite reaffirming the federation’s position, Coe said he recognised the importance of ultimately restoring full global participation in the sport.
“It is important,” he said. “We want a full complement of people on a global level competing in our sport, and that has to be our overall objective. Of course, it does.”
The Lausanne-based CAS serves as sport’s highest arbitration body and is expected to hear Russian Athletics’ challenge in the coming months.
World Athletics has maintained one of the toughest positions of any international federation since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while some sports have gradually reintroduced Russian and Belarusian athletes under neutral status.
The International Skating Union has established a pathway for selected Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutral competitors, although the ISU confirmed earlier this week that Kamila Valieva and three other figure skaters had their neutral status revoked.
Russian state news agency TASS quoted Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev as saying that all the skaters affected by the ruling would appeal to CAS.
(Reporting by Lori EwingEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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