Russia’s track and field athletes should be banned from competing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in order to send a strong signal against doping, the Institute of National Doping Organisations (INADO) said yesterday.

“The ARAF – Russia’s national federation for athletics – and its athletes must be suspended from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer Olympic Games. The corruption in Russian athletics deserves no less,” INADO, the Germany-based umbrella organisation with 53 members worldwide, said in a statement.

“ARAF has not demonstrated that they are capable of sending a clean team to Games. A strong deterrent message must be sent that national federations cannot participate in the highest levels of competition when anti-doping has been intentionally subverted.”

The IAAF suspended ARAF last week following allegations of widespread and state-sponsored doping as detailed in a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission report.

Russia has since announced a three-month road map to clean up its act, with the nation’s Olympic Committee leading efforts to ensure honest athletes can compete at the 2016 Games.