Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov says RusAF are "working hard" to meet the IAAF's reinstatement criteria ©Getty Images

Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) President Stanislav Pozdnyakov says the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) is "working hard" to meet reinstatement criteria set out by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) after the world governing body said on Friday (July 27) that they would remain banned for now.

Pozdnyakov made the comments to official Russian news agency TASS after the IAAF Council revealed that, despite making improvements, RusAF have still not met all the criteria needed for their reinstatement.

Russia have been banned from international competition by the IAAF since November 2015, following evidence of state sponsored doping.

"Much has been done, many experts admit that," Pozdnyakov told TASS.

"Even IAAF members have said so - a lot of work has been done.

"I hope that RUSADA [the Russian Anti-Doping Agency] will be reinstated in the short term, and this decision may pave the way for RusAF's reinstatement."

Pozdnyakov went on the say that the ROC has been holding "regular meetings at various levels" about the issue.

"Ensuring our athletes' participation in the Olympic Games is crucial," he said.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe announced that RusAF would remain banned during a press conference on Friday. The Council's decision was reportedly unanimous ©Getty Images
IAAF President Sebastian Coe announced that RusAF would remain banned during a press conference on Friday. The Council's decision was reportedly unanimous ©Getty Images

Three significant requirements set out by the IAAF have still not been met, leading to RusAF's continued exile.

Firstly, RusAF must pay for the costs incurred by the IAAF in the wake of the doping scandal, notably the establishment of its reinstatement taskforce.

RUSADA must be reinstated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with a key requirement being the acknowledgement by Moscow that Ministry of Sport officials orchestrated the doping of Russian athletes.

And finally, Russian authorities must give access to doping tests carried out at RUSADA's Moscow laboratory between 2011 and 2015.

Russia has repeatedly denied running a state-sponsored doping programme, but evidence of state involvement in the systemic doping of Russian athletes was compiled in the 2016 McLaren Report.

Despite RusAF and RUSADA’s continued isolation, individual Russian athletes may still compete as "authorised neutral athletes" (ANAs) if they train within the sphere of a WADA compliant testing programme.

The IAAF have now approved two more applications from Russian athletes to compete as such, from Yegor Nikolayev who competes in the 1,500 metres and Aleksandr Skorobogatko in the 400m.

In total 74 Russian athletes have been declared eligible to compete in 2018, while 68 further applications have been rejected and five athletes have had their ANA status revoked.