Russia’s athletics federation has been provisionally suspended from international competition – including the Olympic Games – for its alleged involvement in widespread doping.
The IAAF took the action after the publication of an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report that alleged “state-sponsored doping.”
Its council members voted 22-1 in favour of Russia being banned.
Commenting on the decision, IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: “Today we have been dealing with the failure of ARAF and made the decision to provisionally suspend them, the toughest sanction we can apply at this time. But we discussed and agreed that the whole system has failed the athletes, not just in Russia, but around the world.
“This has been a shameful wake up call and we are clear that cheating at any level will not be tolerated. To this end, the IAAF, WADA, the member federations and athletes need to look closely at ourselves, our cultures and our processes to identify where failures exist and be tough in our determination to fix them and rebuild trust in our sport. There can be no more important focus for our sport”
“This is a wake-up call for all of us,” said IAAF president, Lord Coe.
He told BBC Sport: “Our sport finds itself in a shameful situation.
“I am wholly focused on the changes that need to be made. I have openly conceded that we need to learn some very tough lessons.
“We need to look at ourselves, within our sport, and we will do that.”
Russia’s Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko, said the suspension was “temporary” and the “problem is solvable.”
The country’s IAAF council member was not allowed to participate in Friday’s vote.
