MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) - The Russian Athletics Federation said on Thursday it had lodged an appeal with sport's highest court over the World Athletics Council's decision to extend the suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions.
The council reaffirmed the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes on July 3, four years after it initially imposed sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, Russian Athletics said it considered the decision to be discriminatory and that it had engaged specialist lawyers to challenge it at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The World Athletics Council's stance means Russian track-and-field athletes remain barred from international competition, despite the International Olympic Committee provisionally lifting its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday, asignificant step towards Russia's reintegration into the Olympic fold.
Russian athletes competed as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.
(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Toby Chopra)
