Diamond League Ban Russia, Belarus
Belgrade, March 18: The Diamond League on Friday banned the Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in any of the events following Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The decision was taken in a General Assembly meeting held in Belgrade. “The Wanda Diamond League meetings accepted the recommendation of the Board that Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) and Belarus athletes be excluded from all Diamond League meetings for the foreseeable future,” it said.
“This recommendation followed the decision by many sports governing bodies and the decision made by the World Athletics Council and reflects the practical and logistical issues meetings may face if ANA athletes from Russia and athletes from Belarus were to be invited to compete,” it added.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission banned Russian athletes after a doping scandal in 2015 and since then the Russian athletes were competing as Authorised Neutral Athletes at the competitions.