Russia takes World Athletics ban to sport’s highest tribunal

The Russian Athletic Federation (RAF) is asking the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn World Athletics’s ban on Russian athletes competing in international events, a move that could affect their ability to qualify for the 2028 LA Olympics. On Thursday, the RAF announced that it filed a claim with CAS challenging the ban that has been in effect since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

CAS is an independent organization that resolves global sports disputes. It was established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1984 and serves as a judicial authority governing sporting bodies and athletes through the impartial application of sporting regulations.

Ongoing dispute

World Athletics confirmed on July 3 that it is extending the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes. After the ban was extended, the IOC released a statement saying it has provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and recommended that International Federations, including World Athletics, allow Russian athletes to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 LA Olympics.

Without access to World Athletics-sanctioned competitions, Russian athletes cannot earn qualifying marks for the 2028 Olympics.

“World Athletics’s decision affects the fundamental interests of athletics in Russia,” the RAF said in a statement, “and restricts Russian athletes’s right to compete, on grounds that Russian Athletics considers discriminatory. Russian Athletics continues to pursue all available legal measures to protect the interests of its athletes.”

World Athletics intends to defend its position and uphold the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.

“We take note of the Russian athletics federation’s appeal to CAS,” World Athletics told CBC, “and we will be strenuously defending our position.”

Although CAS acknowledged receipt of the arbitration request, details of the official hearing have not been released.

How does CAS work?

Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, CAS does not have its own enforcement powers; instead, its rulings are binding because parties often agree in advance to submit to arbitration, and awards (rulings) can be enforced by sports governing bodies or national courts under the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

If CAS rules in the RAF’s favour, it could require World Athletics to reconsider its position. If it upholds the ban, Russian athletes would remain ineligible to compete in World Athletics events unless the governing body independently changes its eligibility rules.