It's been five years since the Russian Athletics Federation was suspended from international competition. The doping scandal is, of course, more widespread than the track & field team, but that sport has been the one that's received most of the focus. Mainly because, when it comes to reinstatement, they keep doing things that get in their own way.
Take, for example, their latest transgression. Back in March, World Athletics made the conditions for Russia's eventual reinstatement very clear. They were fined $10 million and ordered to pay $5 million of it by July 1 or face expulsion. That deadline, of course, was not met.
This didn't come as a surprise. The RusAF president acknowledged in the days leading up to the deadline that they simply didn't have the funds to pay the fine and asked World Athletics for more time. Whether or not they were just stalling for time or if they actually are short on funds is a whole separate debate, but with the impact the pandemic has had on the entire global economy, I'll bet there's at least some truth behind that request.
However, it also shows how little regard Russia has for its athletes. Because the federation still, even after all this time, refuses to take this seriously. And the athletes are the ones paying the price. Maria Lasitskene and Sergey Shubenkov haven't had a country to compete for in five years. But at least they were able to compete. Now even that's in jeopardy because of the federation's incompetence.
Whether or not the RusAF agrees with the findings (and they clearly do not) is irrelevant. And they obviously have no remorse, so it's not even worth pulling at that thread. They aren't even being asked to admit that they were wrong Simply put, these are the rules that have been established. All they need to do is play by them. Why that's so hard for them to understand is beyond me!
To their credit, the RusAF has admitted to wrongdoing under the federation's previous leadership. In a move that was egregious even by Russian standards, the former president helped forge documents that "proved" the innocence of a high jumper who had missed doping tests (and was subsequently handed an eight-year suspension). That was a direct violation of the Athletics Integrity Unit's anti-tampering rules and what led to the most recent fine.
In announcing the fine, World Athletics also made it clear that enough was enough. If they didn't make the payment on time, Russia could potentially face expulsion. And when they did, that's exactly what some members of the World Athletics task force wanted to do.
Rune Andersen, the head of the task force, said there "very little in terms of changing the culture of Russian athletics" has been done in the five years since the RusAF was first suspended. He added that the task force has spent "an enormous amount of time and effort to help RusAF reform itself and Russian athletics, for the benefit of all clean Russian athletes." Time and again, however, the federation hasn't held up its end of the bargain.
Perhaps expulsion will be the only way for the RusAF to finally get the message. World Athletics opted against taking that drastic step, though. Instead they threw the Russians a life line. Pay the fine, which is now $6.1 million because of increased legal costs, by August 15 or you will be expelled. And World Athletics President Seb Coe has warned that if they are expelled, the reinstatement process would be "lengthy" and "very difficult."
An expulsion wouldn't just keep the Russian flag and uniform out of international meets, which is already the case. It would also mark an end to the ANA process. It would mean that the clean Russian athletes, who've been allowed to compete as individuals, would suddenly be shut out of competitions, too. Through no fault of their own!
The ANAs are the biggest victims of the RusAF's arrogance and incompetence, yet they've shown incredible loyalty and patience. They haven't been able to wear "Russia" across their chest for the last five years (for some, that's their entire career). With the exception of Darya Klishina, they all had to miss an Olympics because of this. Yet they've put up with it. But now even they're fed up. Lasistskene, especially, has been outspoken in her frustration with the federation and its resistance to change.
And now the ANAs have another option. If they're willing to switch nationalities, Belarus will welcome them. There's at least one athlete who's taken them up on it, and I'd imagine others will follow if Russia is indeed expelled. National loyalty only goes so far. If you're an athlete who has a choice between a country that's allowed to compete internationally and one that isn't, that seems like a pretty easy decision. Competing in the Olympics for somebody else beats not competing in the Olympics at all!
Fortunately, all signs point to the Russians having finally gotten the message. Russian Minister of Sport Oleg Matystin sent a letter to World Athletics and promised the overdue payment would be made by the new deadline. He didn't say where the funds would come from, but did confirm that the ministry was "prepared to support RusAF" and guaranteed that the fine would be paid in full.
If World Athletics doesn't receive the funds by August 15, Russia WILL be expelled. It's no longer a question of "if." It could've happened a month ago, but didn't. When they were given a lifeline, it was made clear they wouldn't get another one. Hopefully that was enough to finally get the message across.
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