“So you can attach to any federation”: IAAF Congress supported the decision to extend the term for the removal of the VFLA

"Regression of all Russian athletics"

The term for the suspension of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) has been extended for an indefinite period. This became known at the end of the next meeting of the Congress of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which took place on September 25 in Doha.

190 national federations had the right to vote on the status of VFLA, while 17 of them for various reasons did not participate in determining the decision. As a result, only 30 organizations opposed the extension of the suspension. The All-Russian Federation was supported by Algeria, Aruba, Bangladesh, Vietnam, The Gambia, Egypt, Zambia, Jordan, Cameroon, Kyrgyzstan, Côte d'Ivoire, Lebanon, Libya, Macao, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Nauru, Niger, Nicaragua, Palestine, Samoa , Santa Lucia, Northern Macedonia, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Croatia, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan.

On September 27, the 17th World Athletics Championships will start in Qatar, in connection with which it was important for an international organization to understand the status of the VFLA. Due to the extension of the suspension, Russian athletes will not be able to compete with the Russian tricolor. They will compete under a neutral flag. In addition, representatives of Russia still cannot hold positions in the IAAF.

“The Council unanimously decided that VFLA cannot be reinstated at the moment,” said Rune Andersen, head of the IAAF recovery team.

The verdict of the international organization was commented by the president of the All-Russian Athletics Federation Dmitry Shlyakhtin, who is also currently in Qatar. The functionary did not give any arguments for the restoration of the organization, but he spoke about the damage that Russian athletics have received lately.

“There has not been a single international competition in Russia over these four years, although we have tried to increase the number of our domestic starts. The Russian Winter tournaments, the Znamensky brothers Memorial and others are also held, but the absence of your representatives leads to a drop in interest among fans, which already negatively affects athletics. We in Russia lost 17 thousand athletes of youth and adolescence, ”said Shlyakhtin.

According to him, the removal of VFLA caused the outflow of coaches from athletics to other sports, as well as a decrease in popularity among children and adolescents.

“Parents have only dope horror stories on their lips ... Of course, nobody wants to give their child away to such a sport. I would like to inform you of the other negative side of such a long collective punishment. In the future, this must be taken into account when applying such sanctions to other federations. We all here understand that the sanctions not only hit the perpetrators of the violations, they led to a regression of all Russian athletics, ”the head of the federation noted.

In addition, according to him, the disqualification seriously hit the financial stability of the VFLA, which is difficult to fulfill its obligations, including “to reimburse all IAAF costs.”

“To date, we have paid all the bills and paid about $ 3.4 million to the IAAF,” said Shlyakhtin.

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the All-Russian Athletics Federation, together with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), is conducting work to test for illegal drugs. As an argument, he cited figures according to which 2533 samples were taken for 2019, 70% of which were in the non-competitive period.

“Now there are 457 athletes in the RUSADA testing pool, eight in the IAAF pool,” concluded the head of the VFLA.

It is worth noting that the IAAF issued a verdict, taking into account the situation around RUSADA. So, the other day it became known that a procedure has been launched for the Russian agency to revoke the compliance status due to the fact that some discrepancies with the LIMS system were found in the database of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory. The organization received three weeks to explain, after which the domestic sport risks again being in a difficult situation.

In this situation, it was naive to believe that the IAAF would decide to restore VFLA and allow Russian athletes to perform at the World Cup in Qatar under its own flag. Especially taking into account the fact that the international association continued to stubbornly prolong the removal of the Russian Federation, even when RUSADA and OCD were already returned to the sports "family".

It is noteworthy that, while the federation itself reacted quite calmly to the next suspension, then among the athletes passions begin to boil with might and main. So, several athletes criticized the VFLA and RUSADA at once.

“The decision not to restore VFLA was absolutely predictable. Everything goes according to the same scenario. As soon as the time comes for consideration, something will definitely pop up. And it does not surprise me at all. Why are we needed there if we are not needed here, ”Alexander Menkov, world champion in long jump, wrote on his Instagram page.

According to him, in their native country, Russian athletes are treated as “written-off material”.

“There are a few people who can perform, and good. And so it goes. And let the rest sit and keep quiet. Russia is big, we will grow new ones. Here it is true. And while the federation will be headed by people who put their interests first, not athletes and the country, this shame will continue, ”the athlete concluded.

• Russian core pusher Maxim Afonin, who spoke at the 2018 World Athletics Championships in Berlin under a neutral flag
• Reuters
• © Kai Pfaffenbach

Later, a conflict broke out in social networks between Maria Lasitskene and Sergey Shubenkov. The two-time world champion in high jump has repeatedly criticized the VFLA and RUSADA, and after deciding on the next suspension, she again firmly declared her position.

“If RUSADA is again removed, we will leave to train outside Russia in order to be accessible to international doping officers. I am in the international IAAF testing pool, so this can help. We are not the same as before the Olympics in Rio. Now we will fully defend our right to speak at the Games. We will no longer subscribe to any class action lawsuits, ”Lasickene wrote on Instagram.

According to her, the risk of skipping the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is very high, but she intends to fight for the opportunity to speak at the main start of the four-year anniversary.

“If you need to go to CAS, I will do it and I will fight there for myself. I do not intend to skip the second Olympics in a row because of some obscure people who cannot honestly do their job. Non-recovery of VFLA is not particularly and I want to comment. I’ll only say one thing: the hostages of the situation are athletes, not the leadership of the VFLA, as Mr. Schlächtin is trying to imagine, ”Lasickene concluded.

This statement of the athlete did not quite like her colleague Shubenkov. The world champion in 110 meters hurdles expressed bewilderment at the words of Lasickene about his intention to train abroad.

“Are you inaccessible to international control in Russia, or what?” Wrote Shubenkov.

However, Lasickene reminded her colleague of the events that preceded the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.

“We were in the IAAF pool, were available in the Russian Federation. And did not go anywhere. What do you think will happen now in exactly the same situation? ”- answered the athlete.

“VFLA must fight for its rights”

Olga Bogoslovskaya, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, in a conversation with RT admitted that the IAAF decision regarding the VFLA was not a surprise to her.

- Considering everything that has happened recently and especially the situation with RUSADA, we can say that it was a logical and expected decision.

- Does the All-Russian Federation take the right position in this process?

- It seems to me that the VFLA should do something and fight for its rights. Indeed, the situation around RUSADA, as well as the inconsistencies between the LIMS base and the data of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, are listed as reasons for the refusal to restore. It should be noted that the All-Russian Athletics Federation has nothing to do with this.

- At the same time, there is still an unfinished trial in the case of the Russian high jumper Danil Lysenko ...

- Of course, but it is ridiculous to consider this a reason for the extension of disqualification. It must be considered individually. It is enough to recall the example of Justin Gatlin, who for two years in court challenged his suspension for doping. But this did not affect the status of the American Federation.

- What other claims does the IAAF have?

- With a big stretch, we can mention the accusations that in Russia, distant coaches continue to work for life. Although this is not true, they were all fired. So you can attach to any federation.

- In this situation, the main victims remain athletes. Can Lasitskyene's decision to conduct training outside of Russia be true?

- Before that, I did not support the position of Masha. Sometimes she made statements, not understanding in detail how this process is going. Now she is trying to secure her participation in the Olympics. If RUSADA is deprived of compliance status, then training abroad can be a logical step.

- Why?

- She will be in the jurisdiction of another country, therefore, doping officers of this state will come to her. I think this is logical.

- At the same time, Shubenkov believes that international doping officers will be able to carry out their work in Russia.

- This is a situation where both Masha and Seryozha are right. All athletes are in the testing pool and can undergo this procedure in Russia. Nevertheless, everyone sees the example of Daria Klishina and cannot help but pay attention to him. True, there it was not only in the sports component, but also in advertising contracts.

- Consequently, should Lasitskene be a calm decision?

- She did not say that she was going to change her citizenship and speak for another country. That would be unproductive. What difference does it make to listen to the hymn of the IAAF or some other state.