Russian biathlon has money, there will be a president, but there are no illusions

RBU wrote a letter to the IBU and asked why biathlon is worse than tennis

On September 8, the head of the Russian Biathlon Union, Viktor Maigurov, sent a letter on behalf of the organization to the International Biathlon Union. The reason is the recommendations of the IBU executive committee to extend the suspension of the Russian team from international competitions and a proposal to distance themselves from the conflict in Ukraine. And Maigurov himself will take part in the new elections of the President of the RBU, the date of the conference, after a long wait, has already been set: October 14th.

The situation in biathlon, as in our other sports, is difficult. Writing letters and appealing to the minds of responsible international structures is an almost pointless exercise. They only hear when they want to. And they want it only when the will of the IOC is there.

But not to write and not to cry is not an option. It turns out, we agree with all decisions, so obedient and timid. So Maigurov explains the idea of ​​writing a message to the IBU as clearly as possible. The RRF is challenging the legal status of the decisions that were taken against it. Calls on IBU leaders to think about the athletes they are about to decide. And he draws the attention of the IBU congress members to other sports: in New York, Russians play tennis at the largest tournament, this does not interfere with world tennis in any way, but why is biathlon worse?

For the IBU, this example, of course, will not be a guiding star. The world biathlon treated our athletes as harshly as possible. And his proposals will literally revel. And they are as follows: the executive committee recommended to the next congress (September 15-18) to leave in force the decision to suspend our and Belarusian athletes until a number of conditions are met. In addition, the biathlon of Russia and Belarus must clearly distance itself from the conflict in Ukraine and not allow officials or athletes to be involved in the actions of the Russian army. “Distance” is the same as “do not support”. All for the sake of “preserving the security and integrity of the IBU”.

No, the RRF will even be allowed to say something about this: it is proposed to take part in the congress – via video link. “They are afraid for our safety, which makes me smile,” Maigurov commented on the permit. There are no discussions scheduled after the speech, regardless of what the representative of Russia has to say.

The current president of the RRF says that no one builds illusions, but the position of the RRF must be conveyed to the international community in any case. At least through the screen.

And the Russian biathlon (or rather, its managerial part, since the training of athletes did not stop, and the summer biathlon competitions are in full swing) will remind of itself in person at the next presidential elections of the organization. The first elections were already held, as you know, on June 23. Neither Viktor Maigurov nor RBU vice-president Alexei Nuzhdov were able to get the 2/3 votes necessary for victory. Although Maygurov had a solid advantage: 35 against 18. But he lacked one vote to win. Today, a majority vote is needed to be elected.

In the time that has passed since the conference of the RBU, the candidates, as promised, did not make loud pre-election statements. Scandals and accusations subsided. And, judging by the just published budget of the organization for the season, the financial component of the organization was even strengthened.

If the election programs of Nuzhdov and Maigurov featured income figures of 220 and 228.9 million rubles, respectively, now more money has been collected. The SBR published the budget: the revenue side will amount to 370.1 million rubles. Of these, the organization should receive 200.7 million rubles from sponsors, and 120 million will be brought by the Unified Gambling Regulator.

354.8 million rubles have been allocated for expenses. National teams will get 85.3 million rubles, 63.3 million rubles will be used to organize Russian competitions, 52.2 million – to organize international competitions. Over 35 million rubles will be spent on youth sports.

There is money in our biathlon for the season. This is good information. As for the rest, with the president already elected or not, with the past or not IBU Congress, on the decisions of which there are no illusions, the athletes do their job. And this is precisely their salvation from heavy thoughts and moods: it is impossible to fall out of the training system.

As the coaches of the national team say, the calendar of starts is built in such a way that it repeats the World Cup. And, if suddenly something changes on the international ski track and shooting range, all athletes will be ready to come to Europe at any time and run the race. “We have a preparation plan built for any scenario, so it doesn’t matter to us whether we go to Uvat or Östersund at the beginning of the season.” Probably, this is still not entirely true in psychological terms, but no one canceled the target and seconds.