“Pegov’s opponents have the right to go to court”: why the election of the president of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation was accompanied by a scandal

On Tuesday, a reporting and election conference of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation was held in Moscow, at which a new head of the organization was elected.

They became Anatoly Pegov.

His opponent was the three-time Olympic medalist in luge Albert Demchenko, but at the last moment he refused to take part in the event, declaring it illegitimate.

The fact is that the previous evening the initiative group held a meeting of the FBI Presidium, at which they agreed to postpone the conference to August 19th.

However, it nevertheless took place within the originally agreed time frame, and the decision to change the date of the elections, which caused a lot of legal issues, was first canceled at it.

Demchenko, on the other hand, declared the incident a raider seizure of power and assured that he would challenge the results of the vote in court.

However, the former head of the FBI, Elena Anikina, who under the new head took the position of vice president, is confident in the legitimacy and legality of the meeting.

It was not possible to cancel it, because all the delegates were already in Moscow and did not know about the initiatives being taken, she explained. 

“Opponents can go to court, this is their right.

But our meeting was absolutely legitimate, there was a quorum, and we canceled this decision of the presidium to postpone, since the conference is the highest body according to the charter of the federation.

In addition, for all nominated candidates, even if they were not present today, we held a vote.

Including the candidacy of Demchenko, ”said the specialist in an interview with RT.

According to her, the decision of the famous luger to run for a leadership position in the bobsleigh federation was extremely unexpected for many, including her.

Previously, other people put forward their candidacies, who subsequently withdrew them, and the surname Demchenko appeared already shortly before the elections.

As the ex-head of the FBI noted, Pegov’s opponents staged a behind-the-scenes struggle to achieve their goal: they tried to change the norms for the representation of regions in voting in order to gain an advantage in their favor, they organized a meeting of the presidium right on the eve of the conference, and without getting the desired result, they simply refused to participate in it .

“If they came, presented their program, took part in the debate, it would be worthy.

But I can’t call the statement in the press about the raider seizure as such.

To say this about ten regional federations is just an insult to your colleagues, ”the FBI representative emphasized.

Anikina also told why she herself did not run for a new term and supported Pegov's candidacy.

According to her, being the president of the federation is a great honor, but, above all, it is a huge responsibility.

“I believe that I have insufficient financial resources in terms of attracting sponsors.

In addition, I was not able to provide the sports results at the Olympics that I guaranteed: in Beijing, for the first time in history, Russia did not have medals in bobsleigh.

Therefore, having realistically assessed my capabilities and fell in love with this sport very much, I decided that the federation should be headed by a young, enterprising person who has the opportunity to raise money, with experience and knowledge in this form, ”said the interlocutor of RT.

She noted that Pegov joined the FBI two years ago and took an active part in all aspects of the work: he attracted sponsors, helped in interactions with the international federation, and also traveled to all competitions, thanks to which he established himself among athletes.

Anikina saw a potentially good president in her colleague and announced a year ago that she would support Pegov in the next election, while she herself would remain on his team.

One of the most important qualities of the new president, in her opinion, is the ability to take unpopular measures.

“I have been trying all the time to find peaceful ways that may not have led to the desired results, and he is ready to make revolutionary decisions.

In addition, he came with his team from the world of bobsleigh, which will support him, ”the specialist emphasized.

Answering the question why the elections for the presidency of the federations this year are of such active interest to many people, Anikina suggested that this is due to financial flows in Olympic sports from betting companies.

“Look, the FBI had a medal at the previous Olympics, so with the introduction of funding from the gaming business, we received 35 million in a quarter.

But after Beijing, where we did not win a single award, the flow dropped to 13 million per quarter.

But the federation will receive this amount every three months just like that.

This is a huge help and a huge help for any organization.

But in some, I suppose, unscrupulous people were too agitated by the desire to master this money.

Which is absolutely wrong, because spending them is not so easy, you need to fulfill many conditions, ”the FBI vice president emphasized.

Otherwise, in her opinion, all candidates for the posts of heads of sports federations should reasonably assess their strengths, because this work in the current conditions has become many times more difficult than in previous years.

“Now we need to competently build a dialogue with international organizations, we need to protect the interests of athletes, figure out how to develop the sport in the absence of international competitions.

So many challenges, so many challenges!

Therefore, I have questions about why there are so many people who want to take leadership positions and whether people really assess their strength, ”concluded Anikina.