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On day two of the 212th IAAF Council meeting organized in Monaco, where Nanjing was elected host of the 2020 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Morocco was removed from the international federation’s anti-doping «watch list». As reported by Fast Running, an online portal for runners, the International Association of Athletics Federation, tasked with governing the sport of athletics in the world, has based its decision on a request submitted by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), a separate body that manages the threats to the integrity of sport.
Robusting its testing programme
The AIU request was approved by the IAAF, after putting Morocco on its «watch list» for 21 months. In fact, in March 2016, the IAAF has placed Morocco, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Belarus on the anti-doping list. At the time, the federation argued stating that «Ethiopia and Morocco, as a matter of urgency, need a robust testing programme put in place, Kenya, Ukraine and Belarus need to get compliant by the end of the year».
It insisted that the kingdom’s measures to investigate anti-doping violations were insufficient. According to the same source, Morocco and the Ethiopia had to «appoint an anti-doping coordinator and, as a matter of urgency, establish a national testing programme».
Removed from the watch list
The Royal Moroccan Athletics Federation was the only governing body to be removed from the «watch list». In its statement, the IAAF indicated that :
«Belarus, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ukraine will remain on the list and a new set of requirements for these four federations will be prepared based upon their anti-doping activities in 2017».
Meanwhile, on its website, the Royal Moroccan Athletics Federation gives a list of its anti-doping rules indicating : «a target group is determined each year on October the 1st and is regularly updates until it is re-examined at the end of teh following summer season».
«The athletes included in the target group remain there until the end of the season's evaluation unless removed by the IAAF».
Suspending five Moroccan athletes
Meanwhile, the IAAF decision comes as five Moroccan athletes were suspended for anti-doping rule violations. They are Amine El Manaoui, Abdelmajid El Hissouf, Abdelhadi Falil, Abdellah Tagharrafet and Nader Belhanbel.
The IAAF suspects that Nader Belhanbel, a Moroccan athlete competing primarily in the 800 meters, attempted to use prohibited substance. Last July, his name was added to the list of Russian hackers Fancy Bears who had managed to hack data from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The athlete has been suspended for 21 months, ending on December 11, 2017, after being suspended on a provisional basis, in accordance with IAAF rule 38.2, due to malfunctions in his hematological passport.
