Athletics anti-doping programme 'severely disrupted'

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has acknowledged that its anti-doping programme will be "severely disrupted" because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The AIU, the independent anti-doping watchdog for track and field set up in 2017, operates testing procedures in more than 100 countries.

"Under the current conditions of the global pandemic, many of these countries have social distancing restrictions or guidelines in place, these differ from country to country and in turn are all changing very rapidly," it said.

"As a result, there is no doubt that our anti-doping program will be severely disrupted in the short term, however we will still conduct our priority testing missions in those places where it is feasible and safe to do so."