Elena Anikina has confirmed her intention to stand for the RBF Presidency ©Facebook

Interim Russian Bobsleigh Federation (RBF) President Elena Anikina has confirmed her intention to stand for the role on a permanent basis when the organisation elects a replacement for the banned Alexander Zubkov at an extraordinary meeting next month.

Anikina, who led Sochi's successful bid for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games, officially announced her candidacy for President today.

She told insidethegames that she expects other contenders will emerge before the vote is scheduled to take place in Sochi on March 20.

The RBF has set a deadline of March 10 for interested officials to put themselves forward to succeed Zubkov, who temporarily stood down from the position until his two-year ban for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics expires in December 2020.

The candidate chosen by the RBF membership next month will serve a full four-year term through to 2023 but it remains possible Zubkov, whose suspension prohibits him from holding a role in any National Federation, could eventually return.

It is feasible that the winner of the election could stand aside to allow Zubkov to retain control of the governing body.

Zubkov, stripped of the Olympic gold medals he won in the two and four-man events at Sochi 2014, has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) decision to exclude him for two years.

Elena Anikina, the chairwoman of Sochi's successful bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympics, is currently the Interim RBF President after Alexander Zubkov was forced to step down because of his doping ban ©Facebook
Elena Anikina, the chairwoman of Sochi's successful bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympics, is currently the Interim RBF President after Alexander Zubkov was forced to step down because of his doping ban ©Facebook

The suspension from the IBSF effectively forced the 44-year-old to relinquish the RBF Presidency, while he also faced pressure to step down from the Russian Olympic Committee.

The 57-year-old Anikina, former head of international relations at the Russian Olympic Committee, then assumed temporary charge of the RBF.

Zubkov was sanctioned after the International Olympic Committee found him guilty of knowingly participating in the "systematic manipulation" of the anti-doping system at Sochi 2014.

Fellow bobsledders Alexander Kasjanov, Aleksei Pushkarev, Ilvir Khuzin and Alexey Voevoda were also banned by the IBSF.

The case against Zubkov is said to be one of the strongest as his sample included "physiologically impossible levels of salt".

The CAS also ruled that he had provided clean urine before Sochi - a key barometer in establishing guilt of the individual athletes involved.

This stance was accepted by the IBSF Disciplinary Panel, which had access to CAS reasoned decisions on all Russian bobsleigh and skeleton athletes.

Zubkov has so far failed to hand back his medals to the IOC after a court in Moscow refused to recognise the CAS ruling against him.