When the International Anti-Doping Agency announced the imposition of severe penalties, preventing Russia from participating in all major international competitions over the next four years, it seemed that the anti-doping movement had finally achieved a great victory. As a result, the Director General of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, Yuri Ganos, held a press conference in Moscow, rejecting these measures, but that ban was not comprehensive, thanks to the European Football Association (UEFA), because the competitions held by the European Football Association The provisions of the International Anti-Doping Agency are not considered part of that ban. The "FIFA" manages some of the most prestigious sporting competitions for European football tournaments, and the upcoming competition is called the "European Nations Football Championship 2020", and the Russian city of Petersburg hosts some of the most important matches of the European Nations 2020 championship that generate a lot of money, including Quarter-finals next summer. Petersburg will then host the Champions League final of 2021, and all this will take place at a time when sanctions are being imposed on Russia for four years.

Participate in competitions

And of course, Russia will be allowed to participate in all of the UEFA competitions, because it is not considered “major competitions” by “signatories of the Law on Compliance with International Standards,” whose provisions say that, given that “UIFA” is an independent sports body, it does not meet the conditions of competition The President, although her matches are watched by millions of football fans in the world, as the previous European Nations Football Championship was watched by about 600 million people, much more than those who witnessed the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These tournaments attract millions of dollars in sponsorship from various companies in their stadiums packed with spectators. And it is expected that "WWFA" will get about $ 3.6 billion in profits for the 2019-2020 season alone, according to financial sources from "WWFA", which is not a bad amount compared to a body that is not considered competitions conducted by "President".

WIFA has the right to prevent Russia from participating, if it wants to support the International Anti-Doping Agency and the efforts of fair play, but it does not want that. When the Daily Best newspaper asked a spokesperson for the "WWFA" to comment on that, he said: "(FIFA) has no comment on this issue, and we refer you to the contact agency of the International Anti-Doping Agency, as it confirms that the European European Football Championship Football 2020 is not covered by the international embargo on Russia. ”

But the International Anti-Doping Agency has strongly condemned Russia's influence on anti-doping efforts. "A long time ago, Russian athletes' use of doping led to a diversion from clean sport," she said in a statement of her own. "Russia has had all possible opportunities to arrange its home, join the international anti-doping community for the benefit of its athletes, and the safety of sport in general, but has chosen instead of That is to continue her position with deception and denial. ”

Russian violations of anti-doping regimes had direct effects on many clean athletes, who lost their world records, medals and sports competitions. "This failure was caused by Russia, as it has deceived many athletes and kept them away from their dreams and their correct sporting career," the International Anti-Doping Agency said in a statement announcing the ban on Russia.

The main competitions that Russia has been prevented from participating in include: “the Olympic Games, the games run by the International Swimming Federation, the International Athletics Federation, and other groups related to bike racing and world basketball championships, and they are greatly diminished when compared to the football championships that are run by the (FIFA).”

Russia has been banned from participating in competitions supervised by the FIFA, the most important of which is the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Nevertheless, thanks to the "FIFA", the Russians can easily participate in the "FIFA" competitions if They were eligible for it, as long as they competed on a "neutral" basis, meaning that team members are not accused of using steroids, do not raise their country's flag, or provide the national anthem during the competition.

In order to find out the reason why "WIFA" does not do what many in the sports world think is the right thing for the benefit of athletes around the world, and not to ban Russia's participation, we have to look at the history of this organization with the major problem that the sports world suffers from, which is "racism" . For many years, the WIFA organization has been complacent about teams whose fans engage in racist practices, such as launching monkey-like sounds or throwing bananas when black players appear on the field. In one of the qualifying matches for the European Cup 2020 finals, which took place this year between Bulgaria and Britain, Bulgarian fans committed gruesome racist acts, which included the sounds of monkeys when the two British black stars, Rahim Sterling, and Tyrone Menges, appeared on the field, and the Bulgarian fans greeted Hitler The Nazis were in the stands, and the match was halted twice in the first half, because the targeted players were looking at others with dismay, but the British team decided to play, beating Bulgaria 6-0.

Insults

Bulgaria coach, Krasimir Blackov, said he had not heard any insults against the British players, despite the efforts of some Bulgarian players to calm the crowd. Some players were in denial of what happened, and supported the coach. "I have not heard anything indicating insult," the team's goalkeeper, Plamen Ilyev, said, of course, because he was not a white person.

The head of the Bulgarian Football Association, Yordan Lechikov, refused to condemn his country's fans, saying, "It is disappointing that the focus is on racism only. "It is not reasonable to focus on that only, and forget about qualifying like this, and we are playing against the British team."

And it seemed that «WIFA» was not convinced that what the Bulgarian fans did was a rude racist, and a trivial fine of 75 thousand euros was imposed on the Bulgarian team, and this amount is less than the fine imposed on the Danish player, Nicholas Bendtner, because he revealed his inner pants to show his brand, And during his celebration of scoring one of the goals. The "FIFA" imposed on the Bulgarians to play two games without an audience, but allowed them to take advantage of the results to determine their competitive position. WIFA has a specific system in the event that one of the teams feels that he has been subjected to racism, as he can leave the game and bear a penalty, as a last resort, but only after resorting to other methods, such as stopping the game, scolding the audience, and exhausting the case of deporting the bad fans. The decision is taken by the team alone, and not by the governing body.

Bad story

And at the beginning of this month, when the famous sports newspaper "Corriere dello" published a bad story about two black soccer players, entitled "Black Friday", "WIFA" did nothing about that. When asked by the "Daily Beast" to comment at that time, "Weeva" said: "It is a bad choice for the title, and it is unlikely that it will help develop the serious debate facing the game and society in general."

A week before the International Anti-Doping Agency imposed the embargo on Russia, and WIFA refused to do the same, the Guardian editorial considered that WIFA lacked determination and decision-making. "(WWFA) must begin to impose meaningful sanctions when there is a habit of repeated racial abuse in stadiums, leading to the expulsion of clubs and countries from competition," the newspaper wrote. Given that the organization that governs football in Europe lacks determination and decision-making, it appears that it is not expected to impose a ban and sanctions on Russia for its flagrant violation of the ban on illegal doping, to support the rest of the year’s sports. In any case, the fact that Russia remains in the competitions is due to the organization's interest in the financial returns only resulting from the presence of Russia.

Russia has three teams in the current European Championship 2020, and has so far invested millions to host the games in the coming years. Now that football has become the only sport in which Russia can participate internationally, the Russians will surely bring in a lot of fans who will fill the football stadiums.

Bari Latsa Nadio: freelance journalist

- Russian violations of anti-regimes

The use of steroids has direct effects

Over many clean athletes.

For many years, WIFA has been complacent about the difference

Whose fans engage in racist practices, such as

Make monkey-like sounds, or throw fruits

Banana when black players appear on the field.

The "WWIFA" is expected to receive about $ 3.6 billion

Profits for the 2019-2020 season alone, according to sources

Financial from the "Weva", which is not a bad amount compared

In a body that does not consider the competitions that you run as "president".