Advice is not love: will Russian athletics be closed forever?

The doping crisis in Russian athletics, which has been going on for five years now, risks reaching a new tipping point. Due to non-payment of a multimillion-dollar fine, the World Athletics (WA) Council – its meeting will be held July 29-30 – may transfer our national federation from the status of “suspended” to the category of “unrecognized.” This means that from the point of view of the world athletics community, this sport in Russia will cease to exist. And all our athletes will be deprived of the opportunity to compete at the Olympics and other major competitions. However, As the new adviser to the head of the ARAF Maxim Zhurilo told Izvestia, there is still a chance to improve relations.

Lost contact with Coe

The saga with the suspension of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) began in 2015 due to doping charges. But now relations with WA are so tangled that there are practically no options to settle them. Too many mistakes were made by the previous ARAF leaders Dmitry Shlyakhtin and Evgeny Yurchenko. Both were forced to retire early, but this did not improve the situation. To be fair, WA head Sebastian Coe is also not flexible. For example, the international federation refused to consider the pandemic a force majeure and to shift the payment of a huge fine for the doping case of the high jumper Danil Lysenko.

The deadline was July 1st. The ARAF on its own did not find money by this time, and the leaders of Russian sports considered that it was inappropriate to help – given the fact that the payment does not solve any problems, in addition to admitting our athletes to competitions under a neutral flag, and that is not a fact, given that the summer the international season is still in question due to the coronavirus.

“It is not clear why the fine amount was imposed on the ARAF: $ 5 million and another $ 5 million conditionally,” said former ARAF President Valentin Balakhnichev in a conversation with Izvestia. – How is this justified? Why not $ 300 thousand or $ 1 million? There were no such precedents before. In an amicable way, we need to go to CAS and figure out what these amounts are based on. Therefore, I fully support the decision of the already former President Yurchenko not to pay this fine. Blackmailers only need to pay a penny, and they will never leave you behind.

Be that as it may, the fact of violation of obligations is obvious, and now World Athletics has a reason to either impose an additional fine on Russia (another $ 5 million) or completely break off relations with ARAF.

According to Valentin Balakhnichev, one of the main problems of Russian athletics is the lack of a strong negotiator. Many believe that they could become two-time Olympic champion, head of the ARAF Athletes’ Commission Elena Isinbayeva.

– Elena Isinbaeva is not suitable for this role, because she is a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, – Valentin Balakhnichev explained. – She cannot simultaneously represent the IOC, which supports the WA, and our country. Who do I see as the best candidate? Hard to say, lately we have lost contact with Sebastian Coe. He did not even meet with Dmitry Shlyakhtin. Plus the task is big enough. We need to work with members of the WA council. There are people there who support us, but we need to maintain a constant dialogue with them. Much depends on their votes.

Will Zhurilo save the situation

Formally, the WA Council does not have the authority to ban Russia for centuries – this issue is within the competence of the Congress of the International Federation, which is scheduled for the end of winter 2021. But the Council right now can deprive our athletes of the right to compete in international competitions, and also recommend starting the exile process. In the best case, the Council will make concessions and set a new deadline for the payment of the fine, possibly with interest.

In theory, we have the opportunity to create a new federation and apply for a return on its behalf. But this method of rebooting will not get rid of the skeletons in the closet – the new federation will most likely be again presented with millions in fines and debts, and will also pretend to disqualify the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

Shortly before the WA Council, a meeting of the ARAF membership renewal committee was held. However, no breakthrough ideas were voiced at it. It was decided to write a new letter to the International Federation and create a roadmap for the return of recognition. Also, a new advisor to the head of ARAF for interacting with WA was appointed Maxim Zhurilo, a well-known enthusiast of a healthy lifestyle. He is a supporter of a peaceful way out of the protracted crisis, without ultimatums and courts. But in the face of the threat of a mass exodus of Russian stars to the national teams of other countries, there may simply not be time for calm decisions now.

“We consulted with a number of international lawyers, collected many points of view on the current situation,” Maxim Zhurilo told Izvestia. – Almost everyone agrees that the amount of the fine of $ 10 million ($ 5 conditionally. – Izvestia) will be difficult to dispute. At the same time, having established contact with WA, we can return to discussing the amount. By itself, it is unprecedented for international sports, it is not entirely clear how it was formed. If we are talking about lost profits, then it is quite high for a public organization. There is a feeling that this is just an assessment of reputational damage. Therefore, I think that this is not the final amount of the fine and its reduction may well be discussed in the future. Now is not the best time.

At the same time, the new adviser to the head of ARAF believes that Russia has a chance to avoid a complete ban.

– We have a hope to jump on the last car of the departing train, letting the WA Council understand that we are ready to cooperate, – continued Maxim Zhurilo. – We have assembled a commission to restore the ARAF, which includes RUSADA CEO Yuri Ganus, representatives of the ROC and the Ministry of Sports. At the top level of Russian sports, everyone agrees that it is necessary to actively work on interaction, to establish a dialogue with WA. It is clear that there are not many chances for a positive decision by the Council, we are ready for the most serious sanctions. If we are met halfway, it will be an important step towards the restoration of ARAF. How everything will be in reality – we will find out on the 30th in the evening.

Maxim Zhurilo’s area of ​​responsibility at ARAF is interaction with WA, development of the federation’s marketing strategy, renewal and promotion of its brand.