Yevgeny Yurchenko, member of the board of directors of the United Aircraft Corporation, became the new president of the All-Russian Athletics Federation. Such a decision was made at an extraordinary election conference of the organization. 53 delegates voted for the approval of his candidacy, seven against, seven more abstained.

In addition, a new VFLA Presidium was formed, which included Eduard Bezuglov, Kamran Babaev, Stanislav Biryukov, Alexander Bukhasheev, Vyacheslav Ivanenko, Valery Mamonov, Sergey Prokhorenko, Konstantin Sinyakov, Natalya Shubenkova and Alexei Plotnikov.

The meeting began with the approval of the resignation of the former leadership of the VFLA, who removed his authority in early February.

“The agenda of the conference has been approved. The delegates voted for the early termination of the powers of the president of the VFLA, members of the presidium, members of the control and audit commission, ”said the press office of the VFLA.

Initially, in addition to the businessman, the president of the Moscow Athletics Federation Oleg Kurbatov, the sports manager Mikhail Gusev and the head coach of the Russian athletics team Yuri Borzakovsky applied for the position of head of the VFLA. The latter withdrew on February 25. He explained this by the fact that he had previously taken part in the work of the governing bodies of the VFLA, and therefore a conflict of interest could arise.

On the eve it became known that for an unknown reason, two more candidates dropped out of the election race. At the same time, Kurbatov emphasized that such a decision was made without his knowledge.

Thus, Yurchenko remained the only contender. In his election program, he announced that he intends to fully acknowledge and correct the mistakes of the previous leadership of the VFLA, to return state accreditation to the department, and then membership in the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics). As for the longer-term goals, his plans include developing a strategy for the development of Russian athletics for the next 10 years. The plan should be drawn up in conjunction with regional organizations and athletes.

“All my actions will be aimed at building,” said Yurchenko.

The conference was attended by the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the General Director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Yuri Ganus and the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin. The latter noted the importance of the current elections, which should begin a new era in national athletics, and also expressed appreciation to the previous leadership for the decision to resign.

“We all continue to participate in the development of athletics. On behalf of the Ministry of Sports, I want to say thank you for your work and the work of your colleagues in its development, despite the crisis in which we have been living for the past five years, ”Matytsin addressed the conference delegates.

Extraordinary elections were called after the previous president, Dmitry Shlyakhtin, who has held his post since 2016, was forced to leave him after the scandal surrounding high jumper Danil Lysenko. An investigation conducted by the independent disciplinary body Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) together with RUSADA showed that the case of an athlete accused of missing doping tests also involved the VFLA leadership. He was charged with falsifying documents and giving false testimonies.

The acting head of the organization was vice president Yulia Tarasenko. However, the new leadership failed to provide the AIU with the necessary information on the Lysenko case in time, and at the end of January the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation was forced to temporarily deprive VFLA of state accreditation until March 1. In addition, it recommended that her presidium resign, and also set strict criteria for choosing a new president. In particular, it was said that this position should not be occupied by a person who is in any way connected with the violation of anti-doping rules.

On February 3, Tarasenko resigned, and her powers were transferred to the working group of the ROC to restore the status of the VFLA.

Yurchenko will hold his post at least until the next reporting and election conference of the VFLA. It should be held within six months after the end of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.