‘Will reform athletics in time for Rio 2016’

Russia’s Olympic committee said it would lead reform Russian athletics on Saturday and the sport’s head said he was prepared to resign as a doping scandal threatened to cost Russia its place at the 2016 Olympics.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) voted overwhelmingly on Friday to suspend the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) for widespread and state-sponsored doping.

“The Russian Olympic Committee is ready to take the initiative to reform the ARAF federation and bring it in line with the requirements of the IAAF and anti-doping legislation,” said committee head Alexander Zhukov.

“This must be done efficiently and as soon as possible to ensure that our athletes participate in the Olympic Games.” Vadim Zelichenok, the acting head of the ARAF said the IAAF ban was harsh but that he was prepared to resign to help Russian athletics recover from the scandal

“I believe, the IAAF council made a decision which was too severe,” said Zelichenok. EARLY RESOLUTION But other Russian officials said the suspension would be quickly resolved and hinted that they might appeal against the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. “It is a predictable and understandable decision,” Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said.

“We need to understand what they want and where they see threats. We will develop a joint road map and try do it quickly. I think we can do all the work in two to three months.”