For the best viewing experience of this Newsletter, please click here.

WORDS FROM THE CHAIRMAN

When we started operations in April 2017, one of our key goals was to ensure that in our oversight of all integrity matters, that we would hold everyone including federations, high-placed officials, support personnel and athletes accountable to equally high standards. Two key developments in the last months of 2019 illustrate that we have stuck to the commitment we made to you. 

DAVID HOWMAN
Chairman of the Athletics Integrity Unit Board

In November 2019, following 15 months of investigation, the AIU issued charges against several office bearers of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) for serious breaches of the Anti-Doping Rules in connection with ‘whereabouts’ violations committed by high jumper Danil Lysenko. At the time of writing, as a result of these charges, the entire Presidium of RusAF has resigned and the matter is before the World Athletics Council for resolution.

Earlier, in September, acting upon a complaint against World Athletics Council Member Ahmad Al Kamali, of the United Arab Emirates, a candidate for the position of World Athletics Vice President, the AIU carried out an investigation on the eve of the World Athletics Congress in Doha. As a result, the Chair of the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal provisionally suspended Mr Kamali and he was declared ineligible to be a candidate at those elections.

These cases underline that the Rules apply equally to everyone in athletics – whether athletes, Council members or federation presidents. I believe that the publicity around these cases have cast World Athletics in a very positive light – as an international federation that takes the integrity its sport seriously. 

On a different note, I would like to reflect briefly on two great successes in terms of our educational initiatives.

The Athletics Integrity Hub at the World Athletics Championships in Doha was visited by more than 1400 athletes, including a significant number of medallists, and members of their support teams. The genuine interest in our work shown by nearly everyone was hugely gratifying and alone showed that these athletes had a clear commitment to fair play.

In addition, in early December, we organised very successful 'education sessions' for athletes and support personnel athletes in Kenya and Ethiopia, as part of the Road Running Integrity Programme. The biggest names in road running attended these sessions and showed a great appetite for learning. Road running has been identified as being particularly vulnerable to integrity challenges, we have made a start towards addressing it. This will be a long process and we are confident that, in partnership with Athletics Kenya and Ethiopian Athletics Federation, we will help to create an ethical framework for the athletes and an environment where the concept of fair play can prosper.  

GOVERNANCE AND STRATEGY

A snapshot of recent important governance and strategic issues which have an impact on the integrity of the sport of athletics. 

RUSSIA UPDATE

The AIU in November charged the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) with serious breaches of the Anti-Doping Rules, including a failure to co-operate with an investigation and obstructing an investigation relating to the ‘whereabouts’ violations committed by high jumper Danil Lysenko. A number of senior federation officials, including the RusAF President, Dmitry Shlyakhtin, and Executive Director, Alexander Parkin, the athlete and his coach, were also charged following a 15-month investigation which concluded that RusAF officials had been involved in the provision of false explanations and forged documents to the AIU in order to explain whereabouts failures by the athlete.

The World Athletics Council immediately suspended the reinstatement process of RusAF and the ‘Authorised Neutral Athlete’ (ANA) mechanism pending the resolution of the charges.

On 29 January 2020, the AIU Board, after reviewing the RusAF responses to the Notice of Charge, referred the matter to the World Athletics Council and recommended maintaining the suspension of the ANA process until the charges are finally determined and, if the charges are upheld, to consider imposing the severest possible consequences, including considering the expulsion of RusAF from the membership of World Athletics. Read the full press release here.

At the time of the publication of this newsletter, the entire Presidium of RusAF had resigned. The Russian Sports Ministry has suspended the accreditation of RusAF. World Athletics is in contact with the Sports Ministry and the Russian Olympic Committee to chart out a future course of action.

The AIU hopes that our strong actions will help bring meaningful and lasting changes in the culture of Russian Athletics for the benefit of its athletes and all the athletes of the world.

Separately, the AIU continues to work closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the separate case of manipulation of the Moscow Laboratory data, we continue to observe the status of RUSADA’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport and any possible ramifications it may have relating to athletics.

ROAD RUNNING INTEGRITY PROGRAMME

In November, World Athletics announced that US$2.5 million has been made available for the 2020 Road Running Integrity Programme with contributions coming from 165 Label road races, Athlete Representatives (managers) and athletes (via a 1.5% levy on prize money). This was made possible due to a new funding scheme approved by the World Athletics Council with a vision to bolster and protect the integrity of the highly lucrative road running discipline. Such private funding of integrity measures is unique, with few parallels especially amongst the Olympic sports, and serves to protect the future of the industry and the interests of professional runners. 

The dedicated programme includes greatly expanded out-of-competition testing of a pool of 300 professional road runners, intelligence and investigations initiatives, and education of athletes and support personnel.

The AIU commenced the programme with two athlete-orientated seminars as part of the 2020 Road Running Integrity Programme in Kenya and Ethiopia in early December. The seminar in Eldoret, Kenya was held on 4 December in partnership with Athletics Kenya and was followed by a similar education initiative in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 9-10 December with the partnership of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, and the Anti-Doping Agency of Ethiopia.

The education sessions were dedicated to World Athletics Platinum and Gold Label road runners, and over 200 top runners from Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda attended the sessions. The athletes from the East African nations comprises about 85% of the top 300 male and female road runners. Besides the athletes, approximately 100 coaches and local managers also attended the sessions. Check out the highlights of the education sessions in Kenya and Ethiopia.

CASES UPDATE​

Some key decisions listed here demonstrate the AIU's capability and commitment to investigating and prosecuting important cases. The AIU believes proactive public communication about these cases enhances the reputation of athletics for integrity and transparency. 

VIRJILIO GRIGGS (PAN)

Panama's Virjilio Griggs, the South American indoor 200m champion, has been banned for four-years for falsifying results in an attempt to gain entry  to the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London. The 25-year-old accepted violations of the World Athletics Integrity Code of Conduct and is ineligible until July 23, 2021. 

MICHELLE-LEE AHYE (TTO)

The Trinidad and Tobago sprinter has been banned for two years with effect from 19 April 2019 for whereabouts failure and her results from that date, including her 2019 Pan American Games 100m silver medal have been disqualified. The decision is appealable.

 WILSON KIPSANG (KEN)

The two-time London Marathon winner Wilson Kipsang has been provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures as well as tampering or attempted tampering with the doping control process. A Notice of Charge has been issued.

SAMMY KITWARA (KEN)

The well-known marathon runner has been banned for 16 months from 17 March 2019 and his results disqualified from this date after his sample showed the presence of a prohibited substance (Terbutaline).

AL MAHJOUB DAZZA (MAR) 

The Moroccan marathon specialist, who won the World Athletics Gold Label races in Prague and Fukuoka, has been provisionally suspended after analysis of his samples using the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) returned atypical readings highlighting the use of a prohibited substance.

ACTIVITIES UPDATE

Testing - The AIU, in partnership with the Doha 2019 Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Qatar Anti-Doping Commission (QADC), conducted a comprehensive testing programme the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha. The AIU conducted 684 blood tests prior to the championships as part of its continuing mission to build Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) profiles. In addition, 501 urine tests were also conducted during the championships. In total, 704 athletes (40% of the total participants) were tested during the championships. The AIU also implemented a series of innovative research initiatives which included the measurement of endogenous androgenic anabolic steroids in blood and the analysis of new matrices for the detection of blood doping.

Prior to the championships, the AIU made a concerted effort to raise awareness amongst participating athletes of the need for them to provide consent for retention of their samples for research purposes. The outcome was highly encouraging and 56% of the athletes competing in Doha provided their consent, the highest percentage ever.

General Integrity - The AIU intelligence and investigations team was on-site to address any complaints and/or allegations made by individuals or candidates before the World Athletics Congress and during the World Athletics Championships.

Acting upon a complaint against Ahmad Al Kamali, of the United Arab Emirates, upon referral from the World Athletics Election Oversight Panel, the AIU carried out a rigorous and independent investigation on the eve of the World Athletics Congress in September. The Chair of the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal provisionally suspended Mr Kamali for potential violations of the World Athletics Candidacy Rules and the Integrity Code of Conduct pending the outcome of the AIU's investigation and he was ineligible to be a candidate at those elections.

ELEVATING THE LEVEL OF INTEGRITY IN ATHLETICS

The Rule setting out the anti-doping obligations of the National Federations (Rule 15 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules) came into force on 1 January 2019. During the first year of the implementation of the rule, the AIU observed significant improvements in the national anti-doping standards at all levels. Based on the reports from the national federations, it can easily be stated that the athletes who competed at WCH Doha 2019 have been the recipients of more robust programmes of testing and education than ever before.

It needs to be noted that a total of 14 athletes from a high-risk Group A country did not fulfill the required testing conditions defined for participation in the Championships. The AIU board examined each case individually and decided to deny entry to seven of them, while allowing the remaining seven athletes to compete in Doha following completion of additional measures. This once again demonstrates the seriousness with which the AIU is enforcing the implementation of the Rule 15.

The AIU has also launched an online web platform to assist the National Federations with their reporting. Based on the analysis of the report for the year 2019, the AIU has observed big improvements in the level of scrutiny that an athlete has to go through in terms of testing and education prior to competing at the World Athletics Championships.

The AIU will release the details and also announce the categorisation of the National Federations for 2020 in the coming week. The video below is a quick guide to the purpose and implications of this groundbreaking rule. 

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 

WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS DOHA 2019 

In partnership with the Qatar Anti-Doping Commission (QADC), the AIU organised a joint education and prevention outreach programme – the Athletics Integrity Hub – during WCH Doha 2019. The Hub was set up at all the team hotels to create awareness about the issues that impact on the integrity of athletics, especially doping and the various forms of competition manipulation as well as illegal betting.

Over 1400 athletes and support personnel from 165 Member Federations visited the Hub. The AIU also conducted a survey of athletes and support personnel to assess how they viewed the existing integrity standards in athletics generally, the perception of athletes towards their sport and how it related to their understanding of what is meant by integrity, and their expectations of the AIU and World Athletics. The AIU will release the survey results in the coming weeks through its social media channels.

INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT

The AIU board members and staff continue to represent athletics at key industry gatherings relating to sport integrity. Here is a quick snapshot of recent and forthcoming key speaking engagements.

World Conference on Doping in Sports: AIU Board Chairman David Howman and Head of the AIU Brett Clothier represented World Athletics and the AIU at the World Conference on Doping in Sports held in Katowice, Poland between 5-7 November. David made an intervention on behalf of the World Athletics and AIU while Brett was the only International Federation representative invited to speak during the plenary sessions in Katowice. Brett’s session was entitled ‘The Vision of Anti-Doping Community for the Future’. 

This involvement by David and Brett should be seen as a great recognition of respect for the World Athletics and AIU, and the two organisation’s work in promoting the concept and practice of integrity in sport.

Asian Racing Conference: Head of the AIU Brett Clothier will be speaking at the Asian Racing Conference – a global horse racing symposium – in Cape Town, South Africa on 20 February. He will give a presentation about the AIU’s intelligence-led investigatory capabilities and the use of technology and data analytics to improve the integrity of athletics. 

WADA Annual Symposium: AIU’s Head of Testing and Compliance Thomas Capdevielle is one of the presenters at the 2020 WADA Annual Symposium to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland on 11-12 March during a session on Testing and Investigations in Practise.  

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is the independent body created by World Athletics that manages all integrity issues – both doping and non-doping – for the sport of athletics. The remit of the AIU includes anti-doping, the pursuit of individuals engaged in age or competition results manipulation, investigating fraudulent behaviour with regards to transfers of allegiance, and detecting other misconduct including bribery and breaches of betting rules. It is the AIU’s role to drive cheats out of our sport, and to do everything within its power to support honest athletes around the world who dedicate their lives to reaching their sporting goals through dedication and hard work. 

Athletics Integrity Unit
1st Floor, 6 Quai Antoine 1er, MC 98007 Monaco

E: media@athleticsintegrity.org
T: +33 1 85 64 22 50