Andrei Kirilenko to Run for President of Suspended Russian Basketball Federation

The Russian Basketball Federation's participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics is suddenly in doubt as the International Basketball Federation suspended it on Wednesday.

FIBA explained its decision in a statement via its official Twitter account:

According to Reuters' Dmitriy Rogovitskiy (via Yahoo Sports), FIBA has an issue with the manner in which the RFB is being run. The results of an August 2013 Russian Basketball Federation presidential election won by Yulia Anikeeva have been disputed, and a new president will be determined Aug. 25.

Former NBA All-Star Andrei Kirilenko has positioned himself to run for the post, and he commented on FIBA's harsh punishment through Russian news agency TASS:    

"

This is not news for me, but once again nobody wants to assume responsibility for this. We are losing more and more of our positions and the sooner the issue with elections is settled the sooner the work will start. ... The most important for FIBA is the legitimacy and transparency in all legal aspects. We do not have it at the moment and we received a relevant reaction. ... However, it should be not the reason for introducing in an ultimate manner such sanctions with only a month remaining before the European Championship, but we understand FIBA as well.

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Kirilenko helped lead Russia to a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics, and he helped it medal twice in the EuroBasket competition as well.

Russia needs to participate in September's EuroBasket 2015 in order to have a chance to qualify for the Olympics, but it is currently not permitted to take part.

That could change if the 34-year-old Kirilenko is elected RFB president and exemplifies the type of leadership FIBA is looking for.

Kirilenko is one of the most successful and respected figures in the history of Russian basketball, so if anyone is capable of turning this dire situation around, it is likely the longtime Utah Jazz star.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.