By Kayon Raynor
London (Reuters) – Jamaican athletics authorities are in the firing line once again after voting in favor of a bid to lift Russia’s ban from international competition for doping.
The attempt at the IAAF’s Congress to overturn the ban, imposed since November 2015 after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report found evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia, fell well short of the two-thirds majority needed, with 166 countries voting in favor of keeping it.
But Jamaica was among 21 countries, including Nigeria, Peru, Romania and Sri Lanka, which voted in favor of ending Russia’s suspension.
This decision comes eight months after the Warren Blake led-JAAA executive abstained from a vote on sweeping reforms of the IAAF.
Last November’s “Time for Change” proposals were aimed at moving athletics forward from a tainted period in the sport’s history, encouraging greater integrity and disciplinary functions, along with giving a greater voice to athletes in the organization and promoting gender balance.
(Story corrects to 166 countries voting in favor in paragraph 2, changes byline.)
(Editing by Julian Shea)
