Russia has been given extra time to respond to charges that several of its leading track and field officials helped forge documents to give a star athlete an alibi for missing drug tests.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees disciplinary issues in the sport, said Friday the Russian track and field federation has been given an extension until Jan. 2.
The federation had originally been required to answer the charges by Dec. 12. The reason for the extension hasn't been given, but the suspension of so many senior figures has caused turbulence at the federation.
Federation president Dmitry Shlyakhtin was among seven Russians charged last month over the alleged forgery of medical documents to help world indoor high jump champion Danil Lysenko. He has also been charged, and the federation itself faces possible expulsion by governing body World Athletics.
Shlyakhtin has since resigned as federation president.
The case is not linked to Russia's alleged doctoring of a doping data archive handed over to the World Anti-Doping Agency in January. WADA has banned Russia's name and flag from major sports competitions in that case, which is the latest in a string of doping-related scandals for Russia.
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