The Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation made a decision to allocate a one-time subsidy to the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) for the development of this sport, including to pay off the debt to the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics). This was reported by the press service of the ministry on August 12.
“Taking into account the crisis situation in the Russian athletics, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation made an unprecedented decision to allocate a one-time subsidy to the All-Russian Athletics Federation for the development of the sport, including the repayment of the debt to World Athletics,” the statement says.
The Ministry of Sports reported that in March, the World Athletics Council ruled that for anti-doping violations and falsification of documents in the case of high jumper Danila Lysenko, ARAF must pay a fine and expenses incurred by World Athletics by July 1.
ARAF did not find the means to pay the fine, for which it could be expelled from the international federation and banned from Russian athletes from participating in international competitions in any status.
At the end of July, the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Olge Matytsin sent a letter to World Athletics with guarantees of debt repayment – ARAF postponed the payment of the debt until August 15.
“The Ministry of Sports of Russia will continue to support and assist in the implementation of the plan to introduce a culture of zero tolerance to doping and in the restoration of ARAF membership in World Athletics,” the Ministry of Sports concluded.
In addition, it is noted that the subsidy was allocated not only for debt repayment, but also for the development of athletics in general and for the preparation of the sports reserve. According to the ministry, this sport is one of the five most popular sports in Russia in terms of the number of people involved.
In March, World Athletics fined the Russian side $ 10 million and announced its intention to issue a neutral status to Russian athletes only after paying a $ 5 million fine. Also, ARAF was obliged to reimburse the international federation for costs in the amount of $ 1.31 million.
Lysenko was disqualified in the summer of 2018 for missing three doping tests during the year.