Ghost Rio and Optimist Mutko

Russian athletes can skip the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to accusations of using doping

Radio Liberty continues the cycle of interviews dedicated to the main significant events and trends of the coming year. The Olympic Games in Brazil is the main sporting event of 2016. While the Brazilian authorities are feverishly engaged in the preparation of Olympic objects, Russian officials are preoccupied with another problem: due to accusations of using doping, athletes from Russia may not take part in games at all.

On November 9, 2015, the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accused Russia of violations of anti-doping rules and recommended that the International Association of athletics federations remove Russian athletes from participating in competitions under its auspices, including in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. Membership of the All-Russian Athletics Federation in the International Association of athletics Federations due to a doping scandal in the national team was suspended as a result.

The President of the International Association of Athletics federations (IAAF) Sebastian COU said that if in Russian athletics, after a doping scandal, there will be no change that IAAF requires, then athletes from Russia who did not take prohibited drugs will have to miss the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The national federations that do not fulfill the established rules are to blame are to blame

The Minister of Sports of Russia Vitaly Mutko , however, does not lose hope. "My confidence that our athletes will go to Rio, is based on the fact that there is a certain philosophy of world sports - to protect" pure ", conscientious athletes. If this does not happen, then it is a false philosophy or false goals that the International Olympic Committee, and WADA and international sports," he said in mid -December. In his opinion, the protection of conscientious athletes and their right to participate in competitions should be a priority in world sports.

Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko

On December 11, 2015, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) presented the final list of conditions and criteria, which the All -Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) must comply with the IAAF membership in IAAF. Six criteria for reforming the Russian Federation are listed: the work of the Coordinating Committee of the WFLA (under the leadership of Gennady Aleshin), the structure and personnel of the WFLA, immediate disciplinary decisions, the conduct of further investigation, the management of doping testing and its results, the creation of a strong anti-doping culture among officials of WFL, athletes and other representatives of the athletic sphere. A prerequisite is the displacement of Sergei Portugalov from the post of head of the IAAF medical commission.

The direct impetus for the investigation, which revealed the existence of a state program for using doping in Russian sports, was shown by the German television channel ARD Doping “Doping under the Griff of Secret” . At the same time, Russian officials call the facts the facts in the film, and the Russian Basmanny Court on the protection of the business reputation of the All -Russian federation of athletics And in absentia, the coach of Vitaly Stepanov, his wife, disqualified for the use of doping, Begunyu Yulia Stepanov, the author and director of the film Huyo Zeppelt and the ARD television channel to pay three thousand rubles. The court did not oblige the channel to refute the information recognized as inaccurate, since "ARD has no official representation in Russia."

If the IOC is consistent and removes Russian athletes from participating in games, then this will be a clear signal to the whole world of sports

Hayo Seppelt believes that Russian athletes should not take part in the Games in Rio, since WFLA simply does not have time to radically restructure their work and fulfill the requirements for the federation.

- Your film about the use of doping in Russian sports had very serious consequences, has become a catalyst for a full -scale investigation, which led to the ban on the participation of Russian athletes in the main competitions of the season. Have you expected something like that? Was this the purpose of the film?

Journalist Hayo Zeppelt

-I never aimed at removing someone from participating in the Olympic Games or some other competitions. My goal is to restore justice, truth in sports. For almost 9 years I have been working with international anti -doping organizations, I have been writing and shooting about the stories related to doping for about 20 years, I pay special attention to investigations. I have extensive experience in the study of what I call the "dark side of sports." So my task is to indicate those who are involved in violations. I managed to meet with Vitaly and Julia Stepanov in Moscow in the spring of 2014. They did not just blame someone, they presented in the form of audio and video recordings evidence of violations in Russian sports, evidence that this is a systemic problem. That is why it was decided to make a documentary about this. And for the first time, WADA agreed that it wasn’t “he said something, she said something”, but that it was direct and undeniable evidence. And all this led to the imposition of sanctions. So if we are able to contribute that the sport becomes at least a little “cleaner”, then it costs effort.

- And what is the fate of the couple of the Stepanovs? Are they still forced to hide?

- Yes, they are forced to hide, cannot live openly. And this is a subject of great concern for me - even large federations, including the International Athletics Federation, does not particularly care about what is happening to them, what they are doing. Not a single attempt was made to contact them. Obviously, the federation is more concerned about its own reputation, and not the purification of sports. At least I have such a feeling.

It is obvious that the federation is more worried about its own reputation, and not the purification of sports

- Many do not agree that the ban on participating in competitions also applies to “pure” athletes, although the investigation came to the conclusion that in Russia there is a state program for using doping, so it is more logical to punish the whole Federation, and not to chase individual athletes using prohibited drugs. What do you think about this?

- I do not support those athletes who accuse international federations of what happened to them. National federations that do not fulfill the established rules are to blame, so you need to blame them, you need to blame officials from their countries, you need to blame the current sports system. Since they are to blame. This can happen in any country. I will formulate this very accurately: this is not a ban on participating in the competitions of specific athletes, we are talking about the suspension of membership in the National Federation, the result of which is the removal of athletes from participation in the competitions. It is the National Federation who must first of all fulfill its "homework" in the months remaining before the Olympics. But I doubt that in six months you can have time to do this, since it is necessary to change the sports culture that has developed for decades in the largest country in the world, where thousands of athletes, coaches, officials are used to working as they work now. This takes much more time. So the "clean" athletes in Russia, unfortunately, will suffer, but they will suffer because of those who work with them in their country.

- Do you think international anti -doping agencies monitor Russia especially closely, when compared with other countries?

It is impossible to win the final doping in sports, but you can fight the scope of the problem

-I do not think that Russia is somehow especially strict, just the problem is very acute. And the main reason for this is the legacy of Soviet sports. People who control sports in Russia are the same people who were involved in the Soviet sports system twenty, thirty, even forty years ago. One of the examples is Mr. Portugalov ( Sergey Portugalov is the head of the Center for Medical and Biological Support of the Training of Highly qualified athletes, has been working with the national teams of Russia-RS ), which was at least until 2015 by the main medical expert in the Russian easy athletics Federation and other federations. He was a member of the State Doping Program in the Sports of the USSR back in the 1980s. So people who are based on such an experience still work in Russian sports. It is difficult for them to change in a short time. We are talking about a systemic problem and, once again, about the need for changes in the country's sports culture. It seems to me that this requires at least one and a half to two years. In Russia, the doping problem is more acute than in many other countries. And Russians need to realize that the necessary reforms will not be carried out, they will not be able to participate in the largest international competitions ...

Starting pad of runners against the background of the logo of the International Athletics Federation

- The largest of them, no doubt, the Olympic Games in Brazil. Will the absence of athletes from Russia or some other major sports powers cause them? Or does international sport need this kind of radical measures?

- Sport really needs to take the most stringent measures against doping. This problem is never completely solved, but you need to move in this direction. This is what we would like. If the International Athletics Federation and the International Olympic Committee will be consistent and remove Russian athletes from participating in games, then this will be a clear signal to the whole world of sports. If something similar happens in another country, then you need to take similar measures against it. This is not a struggle with Russia, it is a struggle with the use of doping. And the center of "doping culture" now in Russia. But, if, thanks to the good relations of the President of the IOC Thomas Bach with Vladimir Putin and the great influence of Russian officials in many international sports federations, Russians will still be allowed to the Olympiad, then in other countries where doping is used, they will consider: well, if they did this with Russia, then the consequences will not be especially serious for us, so you can continue ... "

-And in what, in your opinion, the root of the doping problem? Commercialization of sports? The so -called "national pride in sports victories" characteristic of authoritarian states? Something else?

This is not a struggle with Russia, it is a struggle with the use of doping. And the center "Doping culture" now in Russia

- This is a combination of various factors. This is, as you put it, "national pride", and the money that spin in sports, and political reasons: victories in sports allow you to distract attention from many internal problems, this happens in many countries. Remember the example of Eastern Germany, which few people thought about until the 1970–80s, when it became one of the most successful sports powers in the world. Largely thanks to doping. East German athletes who gained Olympic medals were very famous around the world - this is an example of what can be achieved due to success in sports. They were even called "diplomats in tracksuits."

- Is it possible to finally end doping in sports?

- This will never be able to achieve. Car accidents have always been and will take place in any country, thieves were and will exist in any country, and corruption will exist in any country. But you can fight the scope of the problem, including doping problems. And our task is to tell those who are interested in its solution about what is really happening.