Russia will comply with WADA criteria

Moscow : Russia insisted Friday it will comply with all demands from world anti-doping body WADA, including ex-pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva stepping down from her post, as it bids to get a ban on its drug-testing authority lifted.

WADA president Craig Reedie said Thursday that the agency could lift its suspension on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) later this year after nearly two years on the blacklist, but Moscow still needs to fulfil a raft of criteria.

Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, who oversees sport, told Interfax news agency that "they will all be fulfilled."

"Russia is doing everything to create a strong and independent agency," he said. 

Mutko also announced that Moscow would heed a request that former pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva leave her post as head of RUSADA supervisory council.

"It's aimed at raising the independence of this organisation," he told R-Sport news agency.

"She will definitely step down from her post."

RUSADA has been suspended since 2015 in the wake of the report by Richard McLaren which uncovered widespread doping in Russian sport.

WADA's Reedie added that RUSADA had taken concrete steps to clean up its image and could resume testing next month based on compliance criteria requested by the international body. 

Russia's commitment to comply with WADA's demanded improvements was earlier called into question by the appointment of Isinbayeva as president of RUSADA's supervisory board last December.

Isinbayeva had been sharply critical of the McLaren report, claiming it unfairly targeted Russia in what she described as a "political act."