The Russian Athletics Federation (RAF), previously named the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF; Russian: Всероссийская федерация лёгкой атлетики, ВФЛА), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Russia. Its Chairman is Petr Fradkov.[1]
Starting in 2015, World Athletics has suspended the Russian Athletics Federation due to doping violations. However, Russian athletes were eligible to compete as Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA).[2] In March 2026, doping-related sanctions have been lifted.[3]
Affiliations and associations
The RAF is the national member federation for Russia in World Athletics and the European Athletic Association (EAA). Due to doping allegations, its participation in both organisations has been suspended since 2015.[4]
In December 2014, the German broadcaster ARD made wide-ranging allegations of doping in Russian athletics and high-level cover-ups of this. Alleging state involvement in systematic cheating, the documentary accused Russia of an "East German-style" doping programme.[5] These resulted in then RAF President Valentin Balakhnichev's resignation as Treasurer of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).[6]
In response to this, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commissioned an investigation, the report of which was published on 9 November 2015. The 323-page document, described as "damning" by The Guardian,[7] reported widespread doping and large-scale cover ups by the authorities. It recommended that RAF be declared non-compliant with respect to the World Anti-Doping Code, and recommended that the International Olympic Committee not accept any entries from ARAF until compliance was reached.[8][9] On 13 November, the IAAF council overwhelmingly voted 22–1 in favour of prohibiting Russia from world sports events with immediate effect.[10] Under other penalties against the ARAF, Russia has been also prohibited from hosting the 2016 World Race Walking Team Championships (Cheboksary) and 2016 World Junior Championships (Kazan), and RAF must entrust doping cases to Court of Arbitration for Sport.[10]
RAF accepted the indefinite IAAF suspension and did not request a hearing.[11] RAF's efforts towards regaining full IAAF membership will be monitored by a five-person IAAF team.[12]
On June 21, 2016, the International Olympic Committee affirmed the decision by the International Association of Athletics Federations, banning all of the All-Russia Athletic Federation athletes from competing in 2016 Olympics.[13][14]
In 2021, the Russian Athletic Federetion paid a fine of US$2,000,000 to World Athletics for infrenging the doping rules: this fine will be used to pay prize money to finalists of Oregon 2022 and Budapest 2023.[15]
In March 2023, the World Athletics Council restored the full-fledged status of the RAF.[16] In March 2026, doping-related sanctions have been lifted.[3]
As of 2022[update], due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Athletics has banned all Russian athletes, support personnel, and officials from all World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future, including those with ANA status.[2]
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