‘No MoU between Russian Athletics and AFI,’ confirms Adille J Sumariwalla

The Athletics Federation of India has debunked speculations surrounding the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Russian counterpart.

Adille J Sumariwalla, Vice President of World Athletics, stepped in to deny the existence of any formal agreement between the two federations.

“Contrary to incorrect media reports, I can categorically confirm that there is no Memorandum of Understanding between Russian Athletics and the Athletics Federation of India and no Russian athlete will compete in India while World Athletics’ sanctions that exclude Russian athletes, officials and supporting personnel from competition remain in place,” Sumariwalla confirmed on Thursday.

“We all hope there is a resolution soon to Russia’s war on Ukraine, and we stand by to re-engage with Russian Athletics as soon as this comes to pass,” he added.

The Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) had written on Instagram that its officials – Executive Director Boris Yaryshevsky and General Secretary Alexander Georgadze – recently visited India and met Athletics Federation of India (AFI) officials.

“Russian athletes will be able to compete in national competitions in India, while Indian athletes in several disciplines will have the opportunity to train in Russia. Coaches, in turn, will be able to exchange experience,” RusAF had said.

“We are laying the foundation for long-term cooperation. We have agreed on mutual participation of Russian and Indian athletes in competitions, the organisation of joint training camps in Russia, and strengthening efforts to develop grassroots sport,” Yaryshevsky said, confirming the development.

Russia was banned for four years from all major sporting events by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in December 2019.

World Athletics lifted its ban on the RusAF, but the country’s athletes remain excluded from international competitions due to WA’s ongoing separate ban over the invasion of Ukraine.