IAAF backs IOC decision to reward Russia's whistleblowing couple

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has said it fully supports the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to reward Russias whistleblowing pair Vitaly and Yulia Stepanova, whose testimonies uncovered a doping scandal in the country's sports.

Inside The Games sports web portal reported on Monday that following a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach, former runner Yulia was awarded a substantial training grant and her husband Vitaly was offered a consulting job with the IOC on anti-doping related issues, reports Tass.

The IOC press service said on Monday that the couple had a meeting with Bach in September. The IAAF supported the IOC's decision on Tuesday.

Russian ex-doping official Vitaly and his wife Yulia, were in the centre of a series of documentaries on alleged doping abuse in Russian sports aired by German TV Channel ARD in December 2014.

--IANS

sam/bg