Russia’s athletics federation has approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to overturn a decision by World Athletics to keep Russian athletes suspended from international competitions because of the war in Ukraine.World athletics banned athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus from all international events in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.The governing body decided to continue the suspension at its council meeting last week. The move comes even as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently eased its restrictions on Russian athletes ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and recommended that other international sports federations follow a similar approach. The Kremlin described the IOC’s decision as an “important step”.In a statement, the Russian athletics federation said the continued suspension unfairly affects its athletes.“Russian Athletics notes that the decision of World Athletics affects the fundamental interests of athletics in Russia and restricts the right of Russian athletes to compete, on grounds that Russian Athletics considers discriminatory.“Russian athletics continues to pursue all available legal measures to protect the interests of Russian athletes.”CAS has not yet confirmed whether it has officially registered the case, the AP news agency reported.Last week, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the governing body had discussed the possibility of creating “a conditional pathway back to international competition” for Russian and Belarusian athletes, but ultimately decided against it.“We have presented options for the council to consider in this matter, however, the original decision remains on the sanctions that protect the integrity and fairness of our competitions, without a tangible movement towards peace negotiations having materialized,” he said.Russia has not competed under its own flag at the World Athletics Championships since 2015, when its federation was suspended over a widespread doping scandal.Although a system allowing Russian athletes to compete as neutrals was later introduced, it was withdrawn in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine. World Athletics has lifted the original doping ban in 2023.No Russian athletes competed in track and field at the 2024 Paris Olympics because qualification for athletics was controlled by World Athletics, despite the IOC allowing neutral athletes to compete in many other sports.
