Russia is kicked out of biathlon. We could save ourselves, but we were doing other things

Despite the fact that the next congress of the International Biathlon Union should take place only in mid-September in Salzburg, you should not indulge yourself with illusions about the admission of Russians to the World Cup.

The ban will not be removed, the membership of the SBR will not be restored. Moreover, with the current alignment of forces within the Russian biathlon organization, it is difficult to understand how the dialogue with Olle Dalin’s structure will be built in the future. No fruitful contacts have been established so far.

And it is extremely disappointing that it is not worth counting on a change in the situation. While complaining about our position in the world biathlon family, we should reflect on the fact that we are not even able to choose the president of our federation.

Leapfrog that reduces our chances of success in this diplomatic game.

inexplicable play on words

On August 16, a press release appeared on the IBU website, according to which the executive committee of the international federation made a proposal to extend the temporary suspension of the membership of our federation.

Unfortunately, the wording used in the message is very difficult to understand. In particular, officials again manipulate the term “athlete safety”:

The Board is also seeking confirmation from the IBU Congress of its earlier decision that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will continue to be excluded from international competition until further notice in order to protect the safety of athletes and the fairness of IBU competitions. on the site.

When it comes to safety, the IBU is simply setting itself up, bluntly declaring that it is not capable of organizing its competitions at the proper level. The honesty of the results of the tournament in the sporting sense depends solely on the judiciary and compliance with the regulations. How will the participation of Russian biathletes make the fight unfair? Obviously not. Rather, our athletes find themselves in a much more unfair situation. What, by the way, is Yuri Kaminsky talking about:

– A biathlete who is outside the territory of the conflict is now not a biathlete in their understanding? I don’t know, the coach is surprised.

In general, behind the cunning formulations, the clear idea of ​​foreign functionaries is again hidden: to prevent our country from participating in international tournaments at all costs. Despite the fact that the RBU is a sports public organization and can in no way influence other areas of life besides sports, there is no doubt that in Salzburg the delegates of the IBU member countries will vote in favor of maintaining the current sanctions.

Helpless SBR

In an atmosphere where the higher authority is expressed in incomprehensible language, the best thing to do is to talk to Olle Dahlin and try to find mutual understanding. There is simply no other way to reach a compromise.

However, now the SBR is not up to it. After all, we do not even have an understanding of who will be the president of the organization in September. And therefore, instead of wasting time on painstakingly building a dialogue with the IBU, Maygurov, as the current president, is forced to concentrate on something else, although their fight with Alexei Nuzhdov was supposed to end at the end of June at the reporting and election conference in Moscow.

Photo: © Edgar Breshchanov / Match TV

Unfortunately, at that time Viktor did not receive two-thirds of the votes, so now everyone is waiting for the end of August and an extraordinary conference of the RRF. However, it is still not clear when and where it will take place. And the more we delay with the solution of this internal issue, the less chance there is to improve relations with the IBU. All that remains is to write official press releases that hardly anyone from the international federation reads:

“We believe that today’s recommendations of the IBU Executive Committee regarding the athletes of Russia and Belarus are just as hypocritical and politicized, they also contradict the IBU constitution and are just as harmful to world biathlon as the March decisions,” says the appeal of our federation.

Another chapter of open confrontation. It is not clear how our leaders are going to turn the situation from an open conflict into a constructive discussion. And are they going to? Here, for example, the coaching staff has already come to terms with the current situation:

“We have no doubt that they will do it. Nothing new! Europe is separate from the whole world, – says Kaminsky about the future decision of the IBU Congress, I predict the extension of the suspension of the RRF.

The words of Yuri Mikhailovich will become a fact in a month, and the blame for this will lie not only with the decision of the highest authority of the IBU, but also with the leaders of our biathlon, who at a turning point in history were engaged in internal affairs instead of establishing strategic communications.