The resignation of Stanislav Pozdnyakov from the post of head of the Russian Olympic Committee, as well as the removal from real power of such strong leaders of the federation as Irina Viner and Vladimir Salnikov, indicate that the state intends to control sport very strictly. .
It doesn’t even make sense to analyze Pozdnyakov’s resignation: it clearly fits into the course of change of political elites currently being followed in Russia. The State acts in a very specific way in the case of sport: first a new minister was appointed, then he began to carry out state orders.
Uniting sports federations into one structure solves the same control problem. This is also done strictly and specifically: there is simply no possibility of resisting the decisions from above, although this should not be the case, according to the charter of the sports departments. Why loudly announce Irina Viner’s resignation when you can unite the federations into a single gymnastics and appoint your own leader?
This is exactly what happened with gymnastics, which is now headed by the director of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov. And the legendary coach has already been removed from the Presidential Sports Council.
Wiener led our gymnastics for decades:
End of an era. Wiener is no longer the leader of Russian rhythmic gymnastics
Now the same will happen with water sports. The state has already nominated billionaire businessman Dmitry Mazepin, former director of Uralchem, chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian Swimming Federation, to the post of president of the United Aquatic Federation.
The words of Minister Mikhail Degtyarev leave no room for doubt: “We discussed your nomination for the position of president of the Russian Aquatic Sports Federation from the Perm Territory. I support this decision. The conference at which he will be elected is scheduled for October 31 in Moscow.”
“At the time he will be elected” is simply the key phrase. Both the president of the WFTU, four-time Olympic champion Vladimir Salnikov, and the president of the diving federation, Stanislav Druzhinin, announced their intention to compete for the position of president of the united federation, but the minister’s words were a strict no twitch advice.
Dmitry Mazepin
Photo: RIA Novosti
What elections, gentlemen, when everything has already been decided? And they don’t care about the statutes of a public organization: everyone will vote as they say. And it’s not just like that in sport. The thing is that now the actions of the new leaders have become completely different. Very revealing in this regard were the words of Deputy Sports Minister Odes Baysultanov, who, by the way, retained his position after the resignation of Oleg Matytsin.
“The Ministry of Sports cannot interfere in any way in the activities of the federation. This is what the federations did, using their resources. The unification is just beginning. If there is a regulator, it should be a regulator, not an appearance. I absolutely support Degtyarev. He is in favor of centralization. This is how it should be and this is how it will be.
Some people are affected, others are not. Let’s clarify it so this doesn’t happen. Otherwise, any questions: the administration, the apparatus, everyone else, the Ministry of Sports last of all. It shouldn’t be like this. The Ministry of Sports comes first, everyone else comes later. We will listen to your opinion, but we will do it as we see fit. If you don’t like it, I’m sorry, it’s your problem,” Baysultanov is quoted in Sports during one of the sessions of the forum “Betting: Contributions to Sports.”
There is no rush to allow Russian athletes to compete:
Noise for nothing. Russian swimmers were mocked for easing admission conditions, but everything was cancelled.
And so far Degtyarev has gently hinted at the need to combine ski sports. Despite the fact that the Ski Sports Association works perfectly, headed by Elena Vyalbe, who is a member of the FIS. The development of events seems predictable. But not in the very near future.
