“There will be international experts”: VFLA will create a commission to restore status by the end of March

In the near future, the All-Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) will complete the formation of a commission to restore international status. According to the president of the organization, Yevgeny Yurchenko, this should happen before the end of March.

“In my opinion, the creation of such a commission is a breakthrough in our relations with the international federation, it is a rather confidential step, showing that after all, the main process of the restoration of the federation will take place under our control, in our territory, in the body headed by the president of the VFLA. Yes, there will be international experts, but this is quite normal practice, ”TASS quoted Yurchenko as saying.

In his opinion, the presence of such a body will contribute to transparency in the process of restoring the federation.

Recall that the initiative to create a commission came from the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics). March 12, representatives of the organization said that this would be one of the criteria for the return of VFLA. One of the main tasks will be the development of a plan to form a culture of intolerance to doping in Russia.

In this regard, its first steps will be the development of a road map, Yurchenko said.

“At the first meeting of this commission, I would like to be fully equipped, for this we, the new leadership of the VFLA, now have a lot of communication with all members of the athletics community, collect relevant information, analyze, and work out the necessary strategy,” the functionary explained.

In connection with the coronavirus epidemic, the first meetings will be held in the form of video conferencing. There are still questions regarding the presence of foreign experts in Russia, however, Yurchenko assured that this issue is currently being discussed with World Athletics.

As for the composition of the restoration committee, it should include representatives of the country's main sports organizations - the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will be represented by Director General Yuri Ganus and his Deputy Margarita Pakhnotskaya. The names of the remaining members will also be announced before the end of March.

In addition, one of the key roles in the new body will be played by representatives of the VFLA Athletes Commission, the elections to which will be held from March 22 to 26. However, a few days before the vote, it became known that the previous participants - high jumper Maria Lasitsken, pole vaulter Angelika Sidorova, hurdler Sergei Shubenkov and hammer thrower Sergey Litvinov - did not intend to continue their work in the body. In addition, the chairman of the committee, Radion Gataullin, will also leave his post.

Athletes were not satisfied with the fact that the leadership of the VFLA adopted the new position of the commission without their participation. Previously, they proposed a list of the updated composition of the body, but the athletics authorities decided to approve the candidates by online voting.

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Publication by Rus T&F Athletes Commission (@rusathletes) Mar 19, 2020 at 9:22 PDT

“In conditions when words and actions diverge from each other, when our opinion is ignored, we consider it impossible for ourselves to continue activities in the new commission. At the same time, Shubenkov, Sidorova, Litvinov and Lasitskene reserve the right to continue to actively participate in sports and athletics, openly express their opinions and defend the rights of Russian athletes, ”the statement said.

The adoption of the new position of the body was also commented on by Shubenkov.

“So the correct steps of the VFLA have ended,” he wrote.

Yurchenko admitted that the decision of Lasitskene, Sidorova, Shubenkov and Litvinov surprised him. At the same time, he expressed hope that the athletes would change their minds.

“Does this mean that our top athletes are not ready for an open, democratic and honest dialogue, to which they themselves so urgently call on us? I hope that this is not so and, perhaps, it is only about communication errors and misunderstandings between all participants in the dialogue, ”the VFLA press service quoted the functionary as saying.

The next crisis in relations between World Athletics and VFLA was connected with the case of high jumper Danil Lysenko, who was accused of missing doping tests. As a result, the issue of neutral statuses to Russian athletes was suspended, and the former head of the VFLA Dmitry Shlyakhtin left his post.

In early March, Yurchenko sent a letter recognizing the validity of the conclusions in the Lysenko case. In response, World Athletics resumed issuing neutral statuses and also re-launched the VFLA recovery process. At the same time, she decided to pay $ 10 million for involvement in the machinations of the former leadership.