Russia challenges IAAF suspension in CAS

Moscow, September 26: Russia's athletics federation has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) decision to prolong its suspension.

The federation was suspended in November, 2015, following a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that found evidence of systematic, state-sponsored doping in the sport.

Federation spokeswoman Natalia Yukhareva said it had filed an appeal with CAS against the IAAF's decision to extend the federation's suspension at its last council meeting in July.

At the time the IAAF said that Russia had made "significant progress" in meeting criteria for reinstatement, but that its suspension would remain in place until the council convened again in December.

The move comes days after the WADA conditionally reinstated Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, angering sports bodies around the globe.

The IAAF said last week that RUSADA's reinstatement fulfilled one of three pre-conditions for the reinstatement of Russia's athletics federation.

For the federation to be reinstated, Russia must acknowledge that officials from the Sports Ministry were involved in doping cover-up schemes.

Russian authorities must also provide access to data from testing samples at the Moscow lab, which was also suspended in the wake of the 2015 scandal.

Despite the federation's suspension, a string of Russian athletes, including 2015 world champion hurdler Sergey Shubenkov, have been cleared to compete internationally after demonstrating they are training in a doping-free environment.

(With inputs from Agencies)