Russia mull court appeal over IAAF ban

Moscow - The head of the Russian athletics federation says he could go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to appeal a ban from global track and field.

Russia was suspended by a 22-1 vote on Friday by the governing council of the IAAF, track and field's governing body, four days after a World Anti-Doping Agency report accused the country of operating a vast state-sponsored doping program.

The Russian track federation's acting president Vadim Zelichenok says Russia is focused on finding "a rational compromise" to have the ban lifted but could appeal to CAS if the IAAF "tells us clearly that it doesn't accept any of our arguments," in comments to the Tass agency.

He added that lengthy court proceedings might actually reduce Russia's hopes of having its ban lifted in time for the Olympics, which are just nine months away.