BIRMINGHAM: World Athletics president Sebastian Coe vowed on Friday to be present in court to defend his governing body’s sanctions imposed on Russia.
Russia’s athletics federation has lodged a new claim at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge the World Athletics sanctions.
The body for track and field announced in July it was keeping in place a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes that was imposed in March 2022. Russian Athletics, claims the sanctions are “selective and politicised”.
The IOC has announced that Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in team events and qualifying competitions for the 2028 LA Olympics.
The stance of World Athletics, headed by Coe, is in contrast to the federations of other Olympic sports. World Gymnastics and the International Skating Union, for example, have eased restrictions on Russian athletes.
Coe was in no mood on Thursday to back off, telling journalists on the sidelines of the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham that he still fully believed in World Athletics’ policy.
“Well, I will be in the court of arbitration defending that position. That’s how I feel about it,” Coe said. “We will as a sport continue to do what we think is in the best interests of our sport.
Coe said World Athletics’ stance was not political.
“This is not about politics or passports. This is about the integrity of competition, and that is the position that we will be defending.”
Coe has said if a peace agreement is reached then it is not for sport to stand in the way of the Russians’ return.
Meanwhile, Coe defended his stance on increasing the price money for the athletes. Coe announced before the 2024 Olympics to award $50,000 to track and field gold medallists and became the first international federation to introduce such prize money.
The unilateral decision sparked a backlash.
Although the move was widely welcomed by athletes, the hierarchy of the IOC and other federation chiefs argued that it broke with the tradition of the Olympic spirit.
“My view has always been that we talk about athlete welfare, and quite rightly, we talk about physical welfare, we talk about mental welfare.
“We should, but those two are often inextricably underpinned by financial welfare because that financial welfare often gives you the peace of mind to continue to train.”
Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026