MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The All-Russia Athletics Federation (RusAF) has submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against World Athletics’ decision to prolong the suspension of Russian track and field athletes, RusAF’s press office announced in a statement to TASS on Thursday.

On July 3, the Council of World Athletics ruled to uphold the suspension of athletes from Russia and Belarus from its sponsored international competitions, noting that it was still considering options regarding their admission.

"Experienced international lawyers specializing in sports law, including within the Court of Arbitration for Sport, have been involved in representing RusAF during the arbitration process. The lawsuit was filed within the five-day period stipulated by the Constitution of World Athletics and it meets all procedural requirements," the statement reads.

"It should be pointed out that the decision of World Athletics affects the fundamental interests of Russian athletics and restricts the rights of Russian athletes to participate in competitions on a discriminatory basis. The RusAF continues resorting to all available legal tools in order to protect the interests of its national athletes," the statement added.

In March 2022, World Athletics announced a decision to bar all Russian and Belarusian athletes from international track and field tournaments due to the developments in Ukraine.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a decision on July 7 to provisionally lift an earlier-imposed suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and also recommended lifting restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes in all international tournaments.

IOC previously-imposed sanctions against Russia, Belarus

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.

On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.