“We have no illusions.” The head of the RRF on the work to restore the admission of Russians to international competitions

President of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Viktor Maigurov spoke about the work to restore the admission of Russian athletes to international competitions, while he cited tennis as an example, where Russians continue to compete in tournaments.

Earlier, the IBU Executive Committee decided to extend the suspension of the membership of the RBU and the Belarusian Biathlon Federation (BFB) until certain conditions are met.

– There was information that before September 8, the RBU should send a letter to the International Biathlon Union (IBU) in order to indicate on the eve of the IBU Congress its position on the removal of the organization and our biathletes. What accents will be placed there?

– On the one hand, we dispute the legal status of those decisions that were taken against us. On the other hand, we want to say that the leaders of the IBU should first of all think about the athletes whose fate they are preparing to decide. It is the athletes who suffer, although they are in no way connected with what is happening in the world. We also want to draw the attention of IBU congress members to other sports – for example, two Russians are playing in the quarterfinals of the US Open in New York right now. How did this interfere with world tennis? Why is biathlon worse? Our main initiative is the revision of the IBU spring decisions, the possibility of participation of Russian biathletes in international competitions. Otherwise, it violates the Olympic Charter, in which sport is clearly out of politics. In addition to this letter, I plan to speak at the IBU congress in mid-September remotely via video link. We were offered this option, we weighed everything and decided that it was worth using it.

— What are your general expectations from the IBU Congress?

– We do not build any illusions, but in any case, we must convey to the international community the position of the RRF. The presentation of information varies from country to country. We have not reminded ourselves for a long time, now the time has come. Even if it’s via videoconferencing. I will speak, questions and discussions in this format are not expected.

– Do you plan to focus on the same tennis, where the Russians calmly perform at international tournaments? There are similar examples in cycling, auto racing, judo.

“Of course, we will talk about it. These are the cases that you can and should pay attention to, because these are also individual sports, like biathlon.

– What is the status of the appeal to CAS?

– The appeal is pending before the court, so far I can’t name any deadlines. CAS lives according to its schedule. The lawyers of the Russian Olympic Committee provide us with full support in terms of communication, so that we receive information as soon as there is any progress,” Maygurov told RIA Novosti Sport.

On March 2, the IBU suspended Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in competitions under its auspices.