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IAAF maintains Russia's suspension from world athletics over state-sponsored doping

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Image: Russia remain suspended from the IAAF

Russia remains suspended from IAAF-sanctioned events, the athletics world governing body has confirmed.

Russian athletes have been banned from competing in events, including world championships and the Olympic Games, since 2015 although some have been allowed to participate as neutrals.

The ban was initially instituted over accusations of state-sponsored doping, and IAAF officials met on Tuesday to decide on possible reinstatement of the country.

Rune Andersen, head of the IAAF's taskforce on Russia, said two more conditions would have to be met for that to be possible.

Andersen stated Russian authorities would have to grant access to data from testing of samples at a Moscow laboratory from 2011 to 2015 and also pay the IAAF's costs.

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The IAAF's Russia task force head says WADA has been given assurances regarding Russian data, following the news Russian athletes remain banned from international competition into 2019.

"I hope they'll deliver the data by the end of this year," Andersen said. "We've received no assurances it will be delivered to us directly.

"Assurances have been given to WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and WADA have set a deadline of December 31 to receive the data. We'll have to rely on receiving the data from WADA before handing it to the AIU."

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The decision means, as things stand, Russian athletes will not be able to compete under their own flag at the next major international meeting - the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow in February.

The next IAAF Council meeting is not scheduled until March.

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