Victor Maygurov duplicated the victory – Newspaper Kommersant No. 192 (7393) dated 10/15/2022

Victor Maigurov remained the president of one of the most prominent and most problematic domestic sports federations – the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU). To keep his post, Mr. Maigurov had to win the elections twice from his rival, Alexei Nuzhdov, who holds the vice-presidential position in the SBR. For the first time, in the summer, Viktor Maygurov was unable to get the number of votes necessary for election, and in October, changes made to the charter of the structure helped him do this.

The presidential elections, held at the reporting and election conference of the Russian Biathlon Union, were the culmination of a very curious and dramatic story, not very typical for domestic sports federations. As a rule, clear favorites in the struggle for a key post are known in advance. In this case, there was a real and rather tough struggle for him between two candidates – Viktor Maigurov and Alexei Nuzhdov, and its first round took place at the beginning of summer, at the previous reporting and election conference.

Before her, it became absolutely obvious that a rather powerful opposition to the current president had matured in the biathlon community. This was evidenced at least by a complaint to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation from the Council of the RRF, its key body, against Mr. Maigurov. Council members pointed out that, in their opinion, in his actions “there are signs of abuse of official position, arbitrariness, illegal activities in terms of the distribution of financial resources, misappropriation of funds, approval of financial documents” with “clearly beneficial legal and property consequences for themselves.” And the head of the Biathlon Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ildar Nugmanov, claimed that the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and Viktor Maigurov himself exerted “pressure” on regional federations before the elections.

The elections themselves showedthat, even having lost the loyalty of the Council of the RRF, Viktor Maygurov still retained the status of the favorite. He received twice as many votes as Alexei Nuzhdov – 35 against 18. However, this was not enough to win.

In the charter of the SBR (.pdf) a norm was fixed according to which only a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes of delegates brings victory in elections. Mr. Maygurov, therefore, lacked one vote.

The conference, after discussing the situation, came to the conclusion that it was necessary to call a repeat election – this time with the use of a new charter that allows avoiding “stalemate” provisions when none of the candidates manages to win. According to him, a qualified majority of votes – 50% plus two – is required for success in the presidential election.

Before the repeated reporting and election conference, some regional functionaries again accused Viktor Maygurov’s supporters of putting pressure on the delegates. And the same Ildar Nugmanov even reported on an alleged attempt by the SBR, with the connivance of Mr. Maygurov, to illegally appropriate budget money intended for the national team.

But the scandals did not change the balance of power too much. 31 out of 54 votes were cast for Viktor Maygurov. According to the previous charter, this would not have been enough for success, according to the adjusted charter, it was more than enough.

In fact, the outcome of the vote to most neutral observers should most likely seem quite logical. Viktor Maygurov, a famous biathlete in the past, the presidential post got in the summer of 2020, in the wake of the most acute crisis in the SBR, which resulted in the resignation of his predecessor Vladimir Drachev. This crisis had, along with an administrative, and a sports component.

In the ending decade, biathlon has risen in terms of demand on a par with, say, football and hockey. But the rise in popularity has been accompanied by a sharp deterioration in the results of the once reliable winter look. For ten years, representatives of the Russian biathlon have won only three gold medals at top competitions, and real stars have practically ceased to appear in it. Under Vladimir Drachev, there were no signs of progress.

But such signs arose after the RRF was headed by Viktor Maygurov. True, not immediately. In 2021, the Russian team looked habitually modest at the World Championships in Slovenia, only once reaching the podium, and its bottom step. But this past season has been much better. Russian biathletes achieved good results at the World Cup stages, and in February they were close to firing loudly at the Beijing Olympics. They won four awards – silver and three bronze medals, yielding in their total number only to the undisputed flagships of the world biathlon, the Norwegians and the French, and in some races they were next to gold.

To check whether we are really talking about sustainable progress, however, will not work for a reason that is banal for the current circumstances. Russian biathlon, like almost all other Olympic sports, fell under sanctions due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine, which deprived it of the next international season. So, speaking about the surviving contacts with the “outside world”, Viktor Maigurov after the conference had to confine himself to a story about a recent conversation with the President of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Olle Dalin. It turned out that he “became interested in the development of laser biathlon in Russia” and agreed to discuss online with Mr. Maigurov in the near future what “can be done within the framework of sanctions.”

Alexey Dospekhov