FISA Satisfied with Russian Rowing Federation Actions
FISA, the International Rowing Federation, today released
its final decision in response to the Russian Rowing Federation's
new elections held last week-end.
The re-election had been requested by FISA following nine
anti-doping code violations in a twelve- month period between
July 2006 and July 2007. FISA had indicated in February this
year that the Russian Rowing Federation risked a total ban
from the sport unless they conducted a full re-election to
replace the entire governing board as well as implicated people
on the coaching and medical staff of their organisation by
31 March 2008. In today's letter, FISA congratulated the new
President Leonid Drachevsky and informed him of FISA's satisfaction
with the outcome of the election which was held in Moscow
on Saturday, 29 March.
They confirmed to Drachevsky that, due to the prompt intervention
of the National Olympic Committee and the Sports Ministry,
no additional penalties would be imposed against the Russian
Rowing Federation and that the ban on all Russian Rowing Federation
officials from participating in FISA events would not apply
to the newly elected officials and the newly appointed coaches
and medical personnel, effective immediately. The two-year
bans from national and international participation of the
nine rowers found to have violated the code remain unchanged.
FISA reconfirmed the financial penalties which had been imposed
on the Russian Rowing Federation which amount to CHF 53'338.-
for reimbursement of costs incurred related to the anti-doping
actions taken by FISA against the nine Russian athletes and
the CHF 75'000.- fine but extended the payment deadlines slightly.
"We are satisfied that those responsible or in a position
of responsibility have been punished" said the letter,
co-signed by FISA President Denis Oswald and FISA Executive
Director Matt Smith.
Denis Oswald commented this morning: "This concludes
a very complicated series of cases for our Federation. We
hope that the consequence of this procedure will be a better
approach to the coach-athlete relationship in Russia and,
above all, a better understanding of the anti-doping rules
and health issues for athletes in the country." He added:
"As we have said before, we will not tolerate actions
that put athletes' health at risk because we are very sure
that athletes had little to say in the matter."
Currently, Russia has one boat, the men's quadruple sculls,
qualified to take part in the Beijing Olympic Games. Other
boats will have a last chance to qualify at the final qualification
regatta in Poznan, Poland this coming June. The team will
be allowed to travel to these events accompanied by the new
officials, coaches and support team within the scope of this
decision
|
