Track and field's world governing body has appealed doping bans given to seven Russian athletes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport because the penalties were not severe enough.
Five middle-distance runners: Olga Yegorova, Svetlana Cherkasova, Yulia Fomenko, Yelena Soboleva and Tatyana Tomashova - as well as hammer thrower Gulfiya Khanafeyeva and discus thrower Darya Pishchalnikova were caught doping before this year's Olympics in Beijing.
The Russian federation backdated their two-year bans, which means the athletes could return to competition before next year's World Athletics Championships in Berlin. IAAF President Lamine Diack said it is unacceptable that athletes who have committed serious doping offenses would be effectively banned for only about nine months.
Mr. Diack said the circumstances warrant his organization seeking a longer ban than the normal two-year period. No date has been set for the hearing. Any decision by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport would be final.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.