Russian federation challenges IAAF suspension in court

[September 26, 2018]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's athletics federation said on Wednesday it had filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision by global athletics body IAAF 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 told Reuters 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 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and CAS did not immediately return requests for comment.

The move comes days after the World Anti-Doping Agency (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.

A sign is on display outside the office of Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in Moscow, Russia March 28, 2018. Picture taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

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.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, additional reporting by Mitch Phillips, Editing by)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.