“The WADA decision was politicized”: Kolobkov on the results of the year, scandals in sports, the fight against doping and obscenities

“The need for modern sports facilities is growing”

- What was the outgoing year for Russian sports?

- 2019 was not easy, but this year we showed excellent sports results. So, in the summer, our team goes on the third team place. Also in the past year, we had a great Universiade and left a wonderful legacy - wonderful sports facilities that will be used in the future. Of the individual sports I would note gymnastics, synchronized swimming, shooting, fencing, wrestling, handball. In them, our athletes achieved outstanding results.

- And in winter forms?

- The winter season also started well, the guys show stable results in the world cups - in speed skating, and in the short track, and in snowboarding, and in ski races. I think we have very good prospects now.

- Who personally gave you a special reason for pride?

- I love gymnastics and am very happy for Nikita Nagorny, Arthur Dalaloyan and generally for the whole team. They grew and progressed right before our eyes, and now the most important thing for them is to approach the Olympics without injuries.

- And what about the women's team?

- The girls are now changing generations. And this year, three more athletes will move to the main team from juniors, so that the competition will only become higher. And we, of course, are waiting for a breakthrough.

- In your opinion, has sport already become the norm in our life?

- We work a lot for this. In particular, sport has become part of the national project “Demography”. I think that in the near future we will see accurate statistics on how many people are engaged in it with us - about 40% of the population.

- Is it worth the task to increase this figure?

- Yes, we want it to be 55%. But this is a completely different quality: it is necessary that not only schoolchildren and students, but also the middle generation, and senior citizens should go in for sports. Therefore, all regions are now trying to implement new programs. We help them in this: we conduct relevant seminars, finance construction projects. But there is still a lot of work ahead.

- In which sports is the greatest progress in terms of youth involvement observed?

- Of course, this is football, as well as game types - basketball, volleyball. Wrestling is also traditionally a favorite sport in a number of regions. I would also mention judo, sambo and dance sport - they are also rapidly gaining popularity. In addition, if you travel around the regions, you will see that there are many sections in rhythmic gymnastics. Irina Viner-Usmanova does a lot for this. She personally visits the regions, convinces governors and businessmen to invest money in this sport. There is a result - during the competition all the halls are full. Hockey is also developing, even though we still do not have enough ice rinks.

- In Russia there are not enough skating rinks?

- Yes. Moreover: there are regions where ice has never been seen at all, except in winter on the river. At the same time, the need for ice rinks is huge, because then not only hockey develops, but also figure skating and a short track. Another task is to increase swimming. There the situation is similar: provision with pools is only 12%.

“Some are fond of replicating conflicts”

- The end of the year was overshadowed by numerous scandals in sports ...

- Yes, and many of them arose from scratch, and some were inflated, including thanks to journalists. What is happening in figure skating is extremely unpleasant. This is a conflict involving great coaches. Why is this all? On the other hand, the sport itself is interesting, because the scandals around it attract attention. Unfortunately, many of us are simply fond of replicating these conflicts. It is disappointing when, for example, a respected newspaper gives scandals on the cover, and at this time our athletes win medals.

- That is, sports do not need such popularity?

- No, but journalists, unfortunately, sometimes this is exactly what is needed.

- However, not all federations competently work in the field of marketing. For example, why not hold a figure skating competition at the huge Gazprom Arena, since this sport has become so popular today?

- Actually, in figure skating, things are very good with promotion. The championships of Russia in recent years have collected full houses, even in not very big cities, for example, in Saransk and Krasnoyarsk. There are broadcasts on the federal channel. Professional guys also work in hockey, and today not even the brightest matches collect two thirds of the hall. Actively involved in football. I think in a few years we will see the fruits of all this work. Many federations are doing this, it just doesn’t work out equally well everywhere. For example, in athletics it is now extremely difficult to engage in marketing and attract sponsors.

- Because of the doping scandal?

- Yes, because sponsors go where a good image is. By investing money, they want to get recognition, not scandals. Everyone wants to be associated with some beautiful story.

- Another high-profile story of recent months is connected with the captain of the Russian national football team Artyom Dziuba, the detention of fans in St. Petersburg and protests. This is a blow to the image of the sport. Could you personally put things in order in this?

- Yes, also an extremely unpleasant story. But this question concerns the ministry, the Russian Football Union (RFU), law enforcement agencies, and the clubs themselves. But Dziuba - well done. He showed that he coped with this situation, with his goals he proved that he had an iron nervous system. But all this, of course, does not paint our football. Of course, the reaction will be and order in the stands needs to be put in place. Many countries have overcome this problem and we will overcome it.

- In recent years, they have stopped working with fans, as before. Perhaps this caused such problems?

- You probably want to say that there is no longer the All-Russian Society of Fans (PSA). This is true, but his work, unfortunately, did not bring proper results. Moreover, do not forget that its leaders themselves participated in illegal actions and then were imprisoned in France. We are constantly working on the issue of offenses at stadiums, and statistics show that their number is decreasing. Fans are getting older, and the conditions for them in the new arenas are better. What happened in the early 2000s cannot be compared with what is happening now. Although there is no limit to perfection. Of course, when you go to the stadium, you want to have fun, and not see the ugly behavior of the fans and hear the mate.

- Do you think it is possible to defeat abuse in the stands?

- This goal should be in any case. We need to work with the fans, we need to improve their culture. Yes, defeating absolutely all the negative phenomena, like mate and the same dope, is probably completely impossible. But we must strive.

• RT

“The court will put an end to the dispute with WADA”

- Do you have any idea how to deal with doping today?

- A universal answer to this question does not exist anywhere in the world. If we talk about statistics, then by the end of 2017 we were only in sixth place in the number of registered doping cases. This is based on the results of inspections conducted in Russia and abroad during international competitions. Plus, we have the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), with an absolutely transparent management system. They are currently taking 9,000 samples. Four years ago, we provided them with the necessary financing, increasing it by 2.5 times and creating all the necessary regulatory framework. If before the Ministry of Sports was accused of interfering in their activities, now there are no more such conversations, and recent monitoring has confirmed this. It may not be possible to defeat doping, but at least we are doing everything for this.

- Are there any successes in this matter in comparison with other countries?

- I can say that about 30% of countries do not have any anti-doping legislation. For many, the work does not comply with either the WADA code or the UNESCO convention. And in some countries, anti-doping organizations are structural units of the ministry, which is generally unacceptable, since there is a risk of direct intervention.

- It’s not a shame that so much work has been done, but WADA still removed Russia from international competitions for four years?

- The most important thing is that we at one time guaranteed the transfer of our database by WADA and the Ministry of Sports provided full support in this matter. It was checked by both our experts and agency experts, but there were discrepancies. Unfortunately, our position on this issue has not been heard. I believe that this decision was politicized, but now the court will put an end to this matter. Let's wait until the end of the process, it promises to be very difficult.

- And, apparently, long?

- Hard to tell. They will analyze a lot of documents and conclusions. And, again, the position of our experts is very different from the position of WADA experts.

- Do you have confidence in these experts? Are you sure of their evidence?

- We carefully select them and, of course, trust. By the way, last year from our side there was a proposal by WADA to conduct a joint examination, so that later there would be no discrepancies.

- They refused?

- Yes, referring to internal standards. And we do not know how they conducted their examination, and now it remains only to wait for a court decision. But the WADA verdict, in my opinion and in the opinion of many lawyers, contradicts a number of important documents, in particular the charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the charters of the federations. And this may become one of the subjects of controversy.

- Maria Lasitskene, a high jumper after the announcement of the decision, asked a lot of questions. Do you think athletes have the right to join in a public discussion of such problems?

“I understand Mary very well.” She is the best athlete in the world in athletics, and ahead of the Olympic Games. She wants to compete with the Russian flag and anthem, and she has been deprived of this opportunity for almost a year now. Three vice presidents and a president left the federation, and it is the organization that is responsible for the development of the sport. Plus, we do not see any results of the investigation from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). We hope that now they will show us some documents. Yes, Danil Lysenko had violations, he himself admitted this and will suffer a deserved punishment. But I did not see evidence that VFLA participated in these violations.

- That is, our athletics federation was unfairly removed?

- We were promised that if all the points on the roadmap to eliminate anti-doping rule violations are met, the VFLA will be restored. We did it, a lot of work was done. As a result, the federation was not restored, which only provoked new scandals.

- Which ones?

- For example, on the eve of the decision to restore VFLA in Germany, a film was released stating that disqualified trainers supposedly continue to work. We asked to provide evidence, but there is none - there are only assumptions. But you can’t blame people indiscriminately. It can be assumed, but in order to disqualify, you need to find genuine information. RUSADA can also do this kind of work. They have everything for this, for that organization was created and receives large state money. So, you need to conduct investigations, work with informants.

- Do the athletes themselves, in your opinion, have the right to speak openly about their attitude to this issue?

- Yes, and returning to the topic of Lasickene, in my opinion, all our pure athletes need to take this position. They must unite, I myself am ready to meet and talk with everyone. We need to fight doping all together - and athletes, and coaches, and the leadership of the federations. The same Masha with her active life position could well become a kind of propagandist for healthy sports. Of course, it is difficult to combine training and similar work, but this is necessary, because we are all responsible for our athletes. It is impossible to overcome this misfortune in another way.

- What would you wish the athletes and everyone who wants to play sports on New Year's Eve?

- I want that right from January 1, sport will appear in the life of every person. So that people would watch the competition on TV and go in for sports themselves. After all, this is health, and a good mood, and a good environment ... By the way, on January 1, the Luzhniki Stadium will host the second time, and there are a lot of people who want to take part in it - 200 people have already signed up. And the fact that many are registered for the race in the midst of the holiday suggests that our life is changing and people are changing.