Head Of Scandal-hit Russian Federation Re-elected

MOSCOW, Dec 9 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 09th Dec, 2016 ) : Russia's scandal-ridden athletics federation on Friday re-elected Dmitry Shlyakhtin president, as fresh revelations on state-run doping rocked sport in the country.

Russian track and field athletes have been barred from international competition since November 2015 over allegations of widespread drug cheating and the federation is battling to get itself reinstated with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The banned national athletics team was excluded from the Rio Olympics, sparking anger and resentment at home. Shlyakhtin, who was first drafted in at the start of the year as a crisis manager, saw off competition from two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva as well as federation general secretary Mikhail Butov and high jumper Andrei Silnov.

Isinbayeva withdrew from the running Friday after this week being appointed head of the supervisory board of RUSADA, Russia's national anti-doping agency that was suspended in the wake of the scandal.

The federation election came as the second part of a report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) detailed more jaw-dropping revelations on the scale of Russia's state-run doping programme. The report from lawyer Richard McLaren said that more than 1,000 Russian athletes in about 30 sports took part in an "institutional conspiracy" to use banned drugs at the Sochi and London Olympics and other global events.

Russian officials have consistently denied any state-run doping programme and claim they are doing all they can to reform and fight doping by clamping down on cheating and educating athletes and coaches.

An IAAF Taskforce will travel to Russia in January to assess the country's response to McLaren's latest revelations before it reports to the IAAF Council in February. The IAAF has welcomed Russia's progress but said athletics authorities need to ensure doping checks are free from "outside interference."