LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russia’s track and field federation filed a new claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday to challenge sanctions imposed by World Athletics.
World Athletics excluded all athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus from its international events in March 2022 after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
The suspension was maintained at a council meeting in July, prompting Russian Athletics to launch a separate appeal
with CAS to try and overturn it.
The federation's new appeal targets restrictions which it says “infringe on the organisation's rights" and prevents it fully representing Russian athletes' interests at international level.
“The sanctions against Russian Athletics are unprecedented. No other sports federation faces such severe restrictions," chief executive director Boris Yaryshevskiy said in the statement. “They not only hinder the federation’s normal operation but also hold back the development of athletics in Russia, particularly among young athletes.”
Last month, the International Olympic Committee eased its restrictions on Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — something the Kremlin hailed as an “important step” — and recommended other sports bodies do the same.
Russia hasn’t competed under its own flag at a world athletics championships since 2015, when the Russian track federation was suspended for widespread doping.
A program allowing its athletes to compete under a neutral flag was ended in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine.
No Russians competed in Olympic athletics at the 2024 Paris Games because the qualification system is overseen by World Athletics, even though the IOC allowed neutral athletes in other sports.
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