IAAF backs IOC decision to reward Russia's whistleblowing couple

Moscow, Oct 26: 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.