“It will not entail additional risks and worsening the situation of athletes”

A press release on the suspension of VFLA state accreditation until March 1 appeared on the website of the Ministry of Sports on January 31 in the afternoon. The statement said that this decision was made "in view of the systematic violation by athletes of VFLA of the all-Russian anti-doping rules and rules of accessibility, the presence of facts of prohibited cooperation." We are talking about the interaction of the federation with international structures in the case of high jumper Danil Lysenko.

“According to the official press release of the independent body of the International Federation on Athletics Integrity (Athletics Integrity Unit) dated January 29, 2020, the ARAF received explanations on January 2, 2020 and January 16, 2020 regarding the allegations of falsification of documents and giving false testimonies in the case of anti-doping rule violation by Russian athlete Danil Lysenko were considered unsatisfactory by the AIU board, ”the verdict says.

The ministry noted that the new leadership of the federation did not make the necessary efforts to eliminate this situation, and also assured that the decision to suspend VFLA accreditation would not affect athletes.

“It will not entail additional risks and worsening the situation of athletes who have individual access to international competitions, and also will not affect the integrity of all-Russian and interregional competitions and their preparation for them. The Ministry of Sports of Russia believes that this decision will serve as a signal for the VFLA about the need for radical changes in the principles of building relationships with international sports organizations. If the circumstances that served as the basis for suspension of the state accreditation of VFLA are eliminated, the state accreditation will be renewed, ”reads the press release.

On the eve of the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic Committee of Russia recommended the leadership of the federation to resign.

“We invite the VFLA leadership to hold a meeting of the VFLA Presidium on January 31, 2020, at which to consider providing the current working group of the ROC to restore the membership of the VFLA in the international federation (World Athletics) with the necessary powers to organize and hold an extraordinary election conference of the VFLA, scheduled for February 28, 2020 , as well as powers to interact with members of the VFLA, World Athletics, AIU, other international organizations, ”the ministry and the ROC said in a joint statement.

“We are on the verge of estrangement”

The decision to suspend VFLA state accreditation did not come as a surprise to experts. For example, the former head of the Federation, Valentin Balakhnichev, agreed that it was aimed at protecting the interests of athletes.

“The verdict was adopted in order to understand the situation in a short time. The Federation did nothing to fully answer the questions of World Athletics. Moreover, it turns out that the VFLA is not going to plead guilty to the Lysenko case. You need to go to World Athletics and talk with them, the correspondence that VFLA was engaged in does not lead to anything. During Dmitry Shlyakhtin many letters were sent. And as a result, we are on the verge of suspension, ”quotes the Sport24 functionary.

At the same time, the ex-leader of the VFLA expressed concern that now the very possibility of communicating with World Athletics may be lost.

“If irrefutable evidence of the guilt of some workers of the federation was presented, it is necessary to admit guilt. Moreover, Shlyakhtin left his post. It is necessary to save the federation, and not think about the loss of a fighter. I suppose that the main question will be the same - the admission of guilt of the previous leadership of VFLA in falsification of documents and violations in the Lysenko case, ”Balakhnichev added.

And the former Secretary General of the Federation, Mikhail Butov, who nominated himself for the upcoming presidency of the VFLA, noted that everything that happened could seriously reduce the chances of Russian athletes to travel to the Olympic Games.

“I’m even afraid to say something about our chances of participating in the Games in any status. In 2016, if someone forgot - I remember, since I had to actively engage in this - we were not allowed anyone but Dasha Klishina. And then there were world-class stars, and no questions arose for them, ”R-Sport quotes Butova.

Skipping Lysenko doping test and falsification of documents

The scandal around Lysenko flared up in August 2018, when the athlete was suspended from the competition for an indefinite period due to missing doping tests. VFLA provided World Athletics with documents explaining the reasons for the passes, but the international federation recognized them as fake.

As a result, World Athletics in early November announced the suspension of the process of restoring VFLA status, as the Russian Federation refused to admit its guilt in the Lysenko case. This also entailed the suspension of the issuance of individual admissions to competitions to Russian athletes. And soon, AIU temporarily suspended the head of the federation, Shlyakhtin. A few days later he resigned, and his place was taken by the head of the Athletics Federation of St. Petersburg Yulia Tarasenko.

However, this did not move things off the ground. AIU and World Athletics still did not like VFLA's answers in the Lysenko case, which led to indignation from leading domestic athletes, who at the end of the year turned to the federation with an open letter. It was published on behalf of the high jumper Maria Lasitsken, pole vaulter Angelica Sidorova and runner Sergey Shubenkov.

In the letter, they, in particular, asked why the early elections of the VFLA president were scheduled for February 28, which, most likely, would entail the Russian athletes to miss the entire winter season. They were also unsatisfied with the lack of a roadmap for overcoming the current situation, which the Federation obliged the Ministry of Sports to provide.

In response, the VFLA invited a commission of athletes to a meeting of the presidium, but the athletes refused this offer, and Lasitskene decided to stop communicating with the federation and missed the traditional Russian Winter tournament in protest. Later, the commission members asked the ROC to suspend the VFLA state accreditation. This decision was made by the Ministry of Sports in late January.

February 28 will be the election of the new president of the VFLA. In addition to the aforementioned Butov, Oleg Kurbatov, nominated by the Moscow Athletics Federation, and Olympic champion, head coach of the Russian national team Yuri Borzakovsky, claim for the post. The latter was previously the vice-president of the federation, but at the end of last year, resigned. The doctor of the Russian national football team Eduard Bezuglov already informed about the desire to help Borzakovsky.