The prospect of Russian athletes being banned from the Olympic Games in the wake of the latest doping revelations now appears to be remote following a meeting between IOC President Thomas Bach and the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov.

Zhukov, who incidentally chaired the IOC's Evaluation Commission for the 2022 ­Winter Games, is charged with ensuring that Russian athletes will be clean in the future by making Russia's anti-doping body and the country's National Athletics Federation compliant with the World Anti-Doping ­Association (WADA) code as soon as possible.

But there are several major obstacles that remain.

After the 22-1 vote in favor of suspending Russian athletes from international competition, Russia had no option but to go into damage control mode. However, saying the right to show contrition in a bid to get reinstated prior to the Olympic Games is one thing, while overhauling a doping ­culture that has existed for years and rooting out the cheats is quite another.

Trust in certain sports today is so low as to be almost non­existent, and therefore only real, sustained action will be sufficient to regain that trust.

In addition, some studies have shown that doping at an earlier stage in one's career could still have benefits later in life, even after the doping stops. This only further muddies the waters when it comes to athlete bans and state sanctions.

But the issue goes well ­beyond Russia, and a case can definitely be made that Moscow is being blamed for all of the sport's ills, even though a ­widespread doping culture ­existed.

There have long been rumors that other countries, such as Kenya and Jamaica, have a blatant disregard for the rules when it comes to domestic anti-doping structures. The final nail in the sport's coffin would come swiftly if Usain Bolt was ever found to have cheated or even bent the rules.

It may be unfair to even link the Jamaican's name to this, but in the current climate, the question has to be asked.

The best question of last week, though, was put to IAAF President Lord Coe by veteran British broadcaster Jon Snow: "Were you asleep on the job or corrupt?"

Athletics has governed itself so badly in recent years that athletes are almost presumed guilty until proven innocent, not the other way around. However, Snow's question makes clear that officials, too, must shoulder much of the blame, not just the athletes who ­ingested illegal substances.

The author is a Beijing-based freelance writer. dreyermark@gmail.com