FIVE Russian athletes were banned yesterday for drugs offences ahead of the publication of a major investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) into doping in the country.

The suspensions were announced by the Russian athletics federation and came a day after French police announced an investigation into former world athletics body IAAF president Lamine Diack, who has been accused of receiving €1 million (£700,00) to cover up doping offences by Russian athletes. The Wada report into the scandal is to be published on Monday.

A statement on the Russian federation’s website said three athletes had been banned on the basis on information received from the Russian anti-doping agency Rusada and the other two disqualified on the basis of the documents received from the IAAF.

Marathon runner Maria Konovalova, who finished second at the Chicago Marathon in 2010 and third in 2013, was banned for two years for irregularities in her biological passport, while Olympic hammer thrower Maria Bespalova, got four years for testing positive for a steroid.

The runners Vlas Bredikhin and Yaroslav Kholopov were both banned for four years and race walker Yevgeny Nushtayev received a six-month ban.

The IAAF scandal erupted on Wednesday when French financial proseuction said that Diack is being investigated.

Diack and his adviser Habib Cisse have been formally interviewed and the IAAF’s anti-doping director Gabriel Dolle has been taken into custody.

Prosecutors said the investigations included a probe into allegations that Diack was paid more than €1m to cover up positive drugs tests.

Officers raided the headquarters of international athletics in Monaco on Tuesday and took documents, a statement from the IAAF confirmed.

It is understood IAAF president Sebastian Coe, who took over from Diack in August, was at the offices at the time and volunteered to speak to the investigators.