Russia Stripped of 2016 IAAF Championships After Doping Scandal

The International Association of Athletics Federations has fully suspended Russia amid a doping scandal, and the country will no longer host major events in the cities of Cheboksary and Kazan.

OmniSport (via Yahoo Sports) reported the news Thursday, indicating Cheboksary was meant to be the site of the World Race Walking Team Championships in 2016, while Kazan was due to foster July's World U20 Junior Championships in track and field.

The All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) was indefinitely suspended by the IAAF for doping involving its athletes.

An independent investigation carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency declared the Russian Anti-Doping Agency "non-compliant" on November 18. WADA mandated RUSADA clean up its act in order to resume operations.

Former WADA president Dick Pound commented on the potential future consequences after the decision to ban Russia in November, per the Guardian's Owen Gibson:

"

For 2016, our recommendation is the Russian federation be suspended. One of our hopes is that they will volunteer to undertake the remedial work so Russian athletes can compete under a new framework.

If they don’t it has to play itself out and the outcome may be that there are no Russian track and field athletes in Rio.

"

Other cities will commence bidding on the aforementioned two events that Russia were supposed to hold until a January 7 decision arrives. The IAAF's official website posted a timeline for the steps along the way before the location of the events will ultimately be determined.

Russia is in a precarious place ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the IAAF Council will file its first doping investigation report on March 27.