Russian athletes got into a scandal over Syria’s performance. Could you win some money?
Andrey Shitikhin July 6, 2023, 10:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Everything was spoiled by information that appeared at the wrong time. Now the girls are forced to make excuses.
An amazing incident occurred in Russian sports. Several athletes were entered under different names and under the Syrian flag in foreign competitions not recognized by the IOC. The story is completely prosaic: apparently they wanted to make money, but now they are making excuses.
Russian athletes suddenly became Syrian:
Russian athletes included in the list of members of the Syrian team at the Pan Arab Games
The story of the bizarre participation of Russian women in the Pan-Arab Games was unearthed by Sergey Lisin, a former Match TV journalist living in Cyprus, who sometimes represented (often successfully) the interests of athletes in governing bodies. sports arbitration. He learned that badminton player Daria Dzhedzhula, cyclists Tatyana and Daria Malkovs, track and field athlete Karina Poludkina, swimmer Anastasia Sorokina, gymnast Alexandra Maksimova and judoka Milana Mugu were announced as Syrians for competitions in Algeria.
Anastasia Sorokina
Photo: RIA Novosti
The last two in the international federations are listed as athletes playing for Syria, that is, there can be no questions for them. Furthermore, 16-year-old Maksimova, for example, did not play for the Russian national team and therefore she could play for the national team of the country where she received sports citizenship without any approval from the Russian side.
The other five are on the expanded lists of candidates for the Russian national teams, which is reflected in the documents published on the website of the Ministry of Sports. But this does not mean that they receive a salary from the main Sports Training Center, since almost all of them are usually included in the lists of candidates, so later at any time, based on this list, an athlete could be invited to a training camp. at the expense of the state.
Therefore, they are not obliged to fulfill the clause of the contract with the CSP, which states that the athlete participates in competitions at the request of the employer. True, in regional DSPs there may also be such a clause in the contract. Although the Pan-Arab Games are organized by the NOC Council of the Arab States, they are not recognized by the IOC. Yes, they are held regularly. The previous ones, for example, were held in Egypt in 2011, and now Algeria has found the money to celebrate it and has timed it to coincide with the country’s Independence Day. But there is no indication on the competition website that the Pan Arab Games are held under the auspices of international federations, only according to international rules. Yes, there are Pan-Arab Games on the international athletics calendar, but in athletics there are many competitions on the calendar that no one has ever heard of.
It turns out that any athlete could compete for Syria, as well as any other country in these Games. The main thing is that he should coordinate the issue with his employers, and then he can act as a legionnaire. Well, the fact that first and last names have been changed … At Russian competitions, especially youth ones, they also often perform under false names.
The user MityaPro on the Sports.ru forum posted interesting information that puts everything in its place.
“Let me tell you some details that I know. In May, I saw an announcement in one of the chats: they were looking for a swimmer according to some criteria to participate in the Arab Olympic Games. They issue a temporary passport of the country, sign a contract for two months, pay all the expenses of flights/accommodation, etc. They pay salary – $2,500/month and $2,000 in case of prize,” MityaPro wrote in his post. dated July 5 at 20:23 Moscow time.
The Russian woman did not understand how she became a Syrian athlete:
Russian woman, declared at the Pan-Arab Games under a false name, reacted to the situation
Most likely, the Syrians really sent such proposals to the athletes and included them all in the application. The cyclist Daria Malkova has already arrived in Syria. She did not hide that she received a good offer, not only to participate in the Pan-Arab Games, but also to sparring with Syrian cyclists, but now she is returning to Russia. Javelin thrower Poludkina’s coach also admitted that the offer had been received, but it was turned down.
Agreed athletes can understand each other. Why not? Good salary, everything is paid. It was only necessary to inform those who pay salaries in Russia. And the badminton, swimming and cycling federations are unlikely to be against the participation of athletes from the deepest reserve, even in rare but international starts. The names of these athletes are unlikely to be called on the move, even by experts in their sports.
But now suddenly they were involved in a huge scandal, to which even the Ministry of Sports reacted, in its official statement calling the information about the performance of Russian women at the Pan-Arab Games under the Syrian flag as false.
Doesn’t Russian sport tend to go east?
Russia’s turn to the east in sports: what threat and who needs it?
