The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) will not appeal the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) decision to withdraw its charge against American sprinter Christian Coleman of violation of the whereabouts rules under the World Anti-Doping Code. USADA announced its decision on Monday following consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regarding the interpretation of the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI) concerning the date on which a failure to update an athlete’s whereabouts information should be considered to have occurred.

The AIU, as the body that oversees anti-doping internationally on behalf of the IAAF for the sport of athletics, has the right to appeal such decisions under the World Anti-Doping Code. AIU Chairman, David Howman said: “Based on the facts of the case and clear advice about the interpretation of the current ISTI received from WADA, the AIU has decided not to appeal the USADA decision regarding Christian Coleman. We note that the ISTI is currently under review by WADA and we would support a change in the wording to ensure that in the future, filing failures are recognised when they occur and never backdated.”

• This media release was published by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on 4 September 2019. Click here for the original.