“Disappointed by the lack of progress”: why World Athletics refused VFLA to defer payment of a fine in the Lysenko case

The press service of World Athletics has published an official statement on the situation with VFLA. It reported that the International Association of Athletics Federations was forced to suspend the process of issuing neutral status to Russian athletes and work on the return of membership of the All-Russian Athletics Federation. The reason for this was the delay in the payment of the fine by the domestic organization, which should be repaid before July 1.

“The WFLA Reinstatement Working Group and the Bureau of Doping Abuse Review (DRB) have advanced in a number of areas, such as the process of attracting two independent experts to work with the WFLA and the Reinstatement Commission on a detailed plan for returning status. Awaiting payment of the penalty before July 1, DRB also began a process that aims to facilitate the provision of neutral status to athletes returning to compete. Both of these processes will be postponed until the meeting of the council, which will meet on July 29-30, to make sure that World Athletics does not incur additional costs that cannot be reimbursed, ”the statement said.

It became known on the eve that World Athletics did not heed the VFLA’s request for a deferred payment of the penalty, and a day later, President Sebastian Coe commented on its position. According to him, the International Association of Athletics Federations is aware that many are currently experiencing serious financial problems due to the coronavirus pandemic, but see no reason to violate previous agreements.

“We understand that this is a difficult time, but we are very disappointed with the lack of progress on the part of the VFLA regarding the requirements established in March. Serious accusations of anti-doping rule violation led to the appointment of a new leadership of the VFLA, and we had guarantees, we hoped that the changes were about to come. However, a working group chaired by Rune Andersen found that the VFLA did not live up to expectations, ”Coe said in a statement.

According to initial information, up to July 1, VFLA was supposed to transfer $ 5 million to the World Athletics account. That was exactly half of the total fine for the involvement of the organization’s former leadership in the falsification of documents in the case of high jumper Danil Lysenko, who was suspended for violating anti-doping accessibility rules in August 2018. In this case, the second part remains in a "suspended" state and can be recovered in the event of another violation.

But as stated in the association, in fact, the VFLA was supposed to pay $ 1.31 million more. These funds were spent on the investigation of the Lysenko case, the activities of the working group on the restoration of the All-Russian Athletics Federation and legal services.

“VFLA strongly fails its athletes. We have done everything possible to expedite the process of issuing a neutral status and to support the restoration of the federation, but it seems to be unsuccessful. The terms of payment of the fine and expenses were clear and not disputed, so we will have to return to this issue at a meeting of the World Athletics Council in late July, ”concluded Coe.

It is worth noting that the financial problems of VFLA were known a month ago. Even then, World Athletics received requests for a deferment, but each time they refused. 

“Around the situation with the payment of the fine over the past few days a big hype flared up, full of obscure stuffing with links to strange and inarticulate sources. I can say that negotiations with World Athletics, which began on the first day of my presidency, have not stopped and continue to this day. We work in close cooperation with all interested parties - OCD, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, RUSADA. As of July 1, VFLA has no money to pay fines issued by World Athletics, ”said VFLA’s head Evgeny Yurchenko.

As a result, the Minister of Sports of Russia Oleg Matytsin was forced to intervene in the situation. He supported the current leadership of the VFLA, noting that at the moment it was forced to bear responsibility for the wrong steps of the previous one, and also explained that the difficult economic situation due to the pandemic was the cause of problems with the payment of the forfeit.

“To date, the penalty has not been paid, we sent a letter on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Sports to the World Athletics Sebastian Coe, to the IOC Thomas Bach so that our athletes would not suffer in any way, so that they would not bind the sanctions imposed on the federation in any way , with sanctions for athletes. They have already actually suffered, as they have the status of neutral. I hope that at least this voice will be heard, ”Matytsina quotes TASS.

The Minister of Sports called on World Athletics to “show solidarity” and give the APFL an opportunity to develop. He assured that at the moment the activities of the federation are aimed exclusively at the fight for pure sport, as well as the development of athletes.

It is not surprising that the uncertainty about the future of Russian athletics provoked a reaction from athletes. One of the first World Athletics decision was commented on by Maria Lasitskene, who had repeatedly sharply expressed herself in relation to VFLA. This time, the three-time world champion in high jumps said that she was seriously thinking about leaving the national team.

“In today's conditions, it is impossible to exclude any option for my further actions, including leaving the team. I’m tired of the lawlessness that has been going on for the past five years, the impunity and inaction of the leaders of our sport, who are not properly protecting clean athletes, ”admitted Lasickene.

The situation around the payment of the fine was commented on by the mentor of Lasickene Gennady Gabrilyan. The expert rebuked the heads of the VFLA that they could not defend their athletes, and also noted that the organization again showed itself not from the best side.

“July 1 has already passed, the promises have not been fulfilled. Three days before the deadline, an imitation of violent activity began. Sporting “activists” woke up from hibernation with their letters. Against the background of these judgments and rumors, we have the result - we still today remained not only without a flag, but even without a neutral status, ”Gabrilyan wrote on Instagram.

Angelica Sidorova, the world champion in pole vaulting, admitted that in the current conditions she sometimes thinks about ending her career. True, she subsequently stated that she did not intend to hang studs on a nail due to the problems of Russian athletics.