Sanctions ended, punishment remains – Sport – Kommersant

On Saturday, December 17, the sanctions imposed by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) expired. In a normal situation, this would mean that all restrictions on Russian athletes are lifted. In fact, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) stated in advance that there would be no automatic reinstatement of RUSADA. But given that Russian sports still remain under much tougher, politically motivated sanctions, at the moment WADA’s position does not really matter. So far, the only real consequence of the expiration of the sentence will be the ability for civil servants who are forced to leave their positions in sports federations at the request of CAS to resume work. The first of these was the deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Petr Ivanov, who returned to the leadership of the All-Russian Athletics Federation.

On Saturday, the sanctions imposed by CAS on RUSADA on December 17, 2020 expired. In December 2019, the WADA Executive Committee acknowledged RUSADA does not comply with the anti-doping code. This was the result of a scandal that erupted after it became clear that the database of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, the transfer of which to the disposal of WADA was one of the conditions for the restoration of RUSADA rights (for the first time, RUSADA was recognized not complying with the World Anti-Doping Code at the end of 2015), was subjected to manipulation. This is the opinion of WADA experts. The Russian side rejects these allegations.

The dispute reached CAS, which decidedthat until December 17, 2022, Russian athletes are prohibited from participating in the Olympic Games and World Championships (at the 2020 Games in Tokyo and in 2022 in Beijing spoke not the Russian team, but the team of the Russian Olympic Committee) under the national flag. Also, Russia could not host major international tournaments (except for those that were already inappropriate to transfer), and Russian officials were forbidden to hold positions in sports federations. Note that WADA insisted on a four-year period of disqualification.

In a different situation, the expiration of the sentence would mean that Russian sports can return to normal functioning. But this is not the case.

WADA President Vitold Banka said in advance that RUSADA’s rights would not be automatically restored. The situation is strange, given that the WADA statement says that “the consequences of the CAS decision will automatically expire on December 17” and “there is nothing in the rules that would allow WADA to extend these consequences after that date.”

However, the same statement notes that “RUSADA continues to be inconsistent with the World Anti-Doping Code.” “On December 17, WADA will initiate a comprehensive review to carefully assess whether RUSADA has complied with all the conditions for the restoration set out in the CAS decision. As soon as WADA management considers that all conditions have been met, it will refer the matter to the Compliance Committee (CRC). If the CRC agrees with the findings, it will make a recommendation to the WADA Executive Committee. Failure to fully comply with the restoration conditions will result in RUSADA non-compliance being maintained until they are met,” the agency said in a statement.

Vitold Banka noted that the expiration of the term of punishment does not mean that new sanctions cannot follow for violations committed during its action. According to him, the doping case of figure skater Kamila Valieva became a stumbling block.

During the Beijing Olympics, it turned out that traces of a prohibited drug were found in the sample of the athlete. The case was referred to RUSADA, which did not issue any decision until November. As a result, WADA has already applied to CAS. Agency requires disqualify Kamila Valieva for four years.

In addition, Mr. Banka noted that Russian legislation does not fully comply with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code as amended on January 1, 2021. The process of introducing appropriate amendments to Article 26 of the federal law “On Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation” (“Prevention and Combating Doping in Sports”) has already been initiated by the State Duma. But while everything goes to the fact that WADA, after the aforementioned audit, will go for a new round of sanctions, the Russian side will not agree with them, and as a result, the dispute will again be submitted to CAS for consideration.

Be that as it may, even if WADA removed all claims against RUSADA on December 17 and confirmed its compliance with the anti-doping code, the overwhelming majority of Russian athletes would still not be able to return to participation in international competitions. The fact is that after the start of events in Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended international sports federations to remove Russians from participation in tournaments. The vast majority of them complied with this recommendation.

There is, however, hope that the IOC will find a compromise solution. At the Olympic summit in early December, IOC President Thomas Bach said that it was not yet time to lift the sanctions, which, in his opinion, are not a punishment, but a kind of “protective measure” that allows you to protect the Olympic movement from politics. The IOC also invests in the concept of “protective measures” concern for the safety of Russians and Belarusians, who also fell under restrictions, in Europe and North America.

However, at the same summit, a proposal was made by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which was unanimously supported, according to which Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete in Asian competitions and through them qualify for participation in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

Acting President of the OCA Randhir Singh said that the road to Asia is open to Russian and Belarusian athletes.

“On the Asian continent, there are no more reasons for protective measures,” the IOC said in a statement following the summit. “The OCA has proposed to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in competitions in Asia under its auspices, while complying with existing sanctions. Representatives of international federations welcomed this initiative. At the same time, each federation must carefully evaluate for its sport whether it is necessary to use protective measures. So far, however, it is not clear how the OCA initiative can be implemented in practice.

At the moment, the only tangible consequence of the expiration of RUSADA’s sentence will be the possibility for Russian officials to re-occupy positions in Russian sports federations. In particular, due to the CAS decision, the powers of the president of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) in February 2021 was forced to lay down Peter Ivanov. This happened after his appointment as deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. On Sunday, Mr. Ivanov returned to the post of president of the VFLA. During his forced absence, Irina Privalova led the federation in the status of acting president. Now she holds the post of the first vice-president of the ARAF.

“Officially, the effect of the CAS sanctions that were imposed on Russian sports, on public servants, has ended,” Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, told reporters on Sunday. Federations can continue to work in public organizations. The Ministry of Sports is optimistic about the continuation of the work of colleagues, this is a huge potential, I see the need to use the knowledge and experience of people who today work in government structures and actively participate in the activities of public organizations.”

However, the athletics federation has long stood apart in terms of the sanctions that apply to it.

ARAF membership in the International Federation of Athletics (World Athletics, WA) was suspended back in 2015 amid a series of doping scandals. Since then, the ARAF suspension has been extended 15 times. There is, however, a possibility that already in March the WA will restore the rights of the ARAF. At the end of November, WA President Sebastian Coe announced that the corresponding recommendation had come from a working group to restore the status of the Russian ARAF. “The working group reported that there is progress on the restoration, the final recommendation will be made in March 2023. And it will consist in a recommendation to restore the status of the ARAF,” said Mr. Coe.

Arnold Kabanov