Coe’s leadership already raises concerns

Question: How will Russia respond to the report?

Answer: Confronted by a potential ban from international athletics, Russian athletics has to disprove the allegations made by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s independent commission or clean up its act. It is not clear whether Russia believes it even has a case to answer.

On the one hand, there have been denials, expressions of disgust and questions raised about the legitimacy of the report. On the other hand, there has been confirmation that Russian authorities will work with anti-doping agencies to clean up the sport. The denials are as follows: Russia’s Federal Biomechanical Agency, which oversees laboratory testing in the country, called the Wada independent commission’s report “baseless” unless its claims were proven in court; Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s minister for sport, threatened to pull the plug on any more financial support to fight doping within Russia as a response to the report; Nikita Kamaev, executive director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, said the Wada doping allegations against Russia were groundless; and Artyom Patsev, the All-Russia Athletics Federation lawyer, said that if there was any truth to the allegations, Russian athletics would have been suspended “a long time ago”.

As for the future, the message from Russia appears to be threefold: a) This is not true; b) Even if it is true everyone else is doing the same thing; but c) We know we have to be seen to act on doping because otherwise, we are not going to be allowed to compete at Rio 2016.

Can Lord Coe clean up the sport?

Sebastian Coe was elected to his “dream” job as IAAF president this summer. Already, there are questions about his leadership. He had served as IAAF Vice-President since 2007 while what the report called “corruption and bribery” took place within the organisation. Despite asking for “time to properly digest” the report, Coe performed a U-turn when he confirmed that he had asked the IAAF Council to consider “sanctions against Russia”. Days earlier, he said he preferred “engagement” with Russia rather than a ban.

Will the IAAF really ban Russia?

The IAAF Council is due to meet this Friday in a virtual (video) conference. It may impose sanctions immediately or wait until the next full meeting of the council, in Monaco on November 26. Whether at the first or second meeting, it seems likely Russia will at least be provisionally suspended from international athletics pending further investigation. How long any ban lasts is the crucial factor.

What will Wada do now?

The findings of the independent commission’s reports are recommendations. It is now up to Wada whether to go ahead with them. There are three key decisions: 1) Whether to rule that ARAF — the Russian Athletics Federation — is non-compliant with its code and suspend it; 2) Whether to rule that Rusada is non-compliant with its code and suspend it; 3) Whether to rule that the Wada-accredited Moscow laboratory is non-compliant with its code and suspend it. Wada confirmed yesterday that the Moscow laboratory had been suspended with immediate effect.

Is there anyone else implicated?

Delivering the report in Geneva on Monday, the independent commission president Dick Pound said that its contents were just the “tip of the iceberg”. Before the end of the year, the commission will publish another report into the allegations that arose this summer related to widespread blood passport violations among endurance athletes and a potential cover-up within the IAAF.

Will anyone face jail?

The report on Monday barely made mention of Lamine Diack, the former IAAF president, Diack’s son and former IAAF marketing consultant Papa Massata, Gabriel Dolle, the former director of the IAAF’s medical and anti-doping department, and Habib Cisse, Diack’s legal adviser, all of whom are suspected of bribery related to covering up doping.

Wada’s independent commission confirmed that it had deliberately omitted any evidence of wrongdoing on their part so as not to affect a criminal investigation. Diack was arrested this month on suspicion of taking bribes to cover up doping, with Dolle, also suspected of taking bribes, and Cisse held too. French police would have arrested Papa Massata had he been in their jurisdiction. The independent commission confirmed that it had uncovered conduct appearing to be “of a criminal nature” and it hopes to publish the full information before the end of the year, suggesting that the high-ranking IAAF officials under suspicion will be charged or released without charge in the coming weeks.

What will the sponsors do?

The IAAF website displays a number of brands affiliated with the world athletics governing body, from adidas and Canon to Seiko, Toyota and many others. These companies will be forced to consider whether they want to remain associated with a sport sitting under such a huge cloud.

Could there be a boycott of the 2016 Olympics?

Speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, Ed Warner, the UK Athletics chairman, warned that Russia’s expulsion from the 2016 Olympic Games may well lead to a Cold War-style boycott by its allies. Warner said that any such boycott would be a price worth paying. “It has to be a risk, but it’s not one that I care about,” he said.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2015