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The Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) is claiming that they do not have the funds available to pay the $10-million fine that they owe to World Athletics.
They have asked for an extension and if they can pay half of the money upfront.
Russian news agency TASS reported RusAF President Yevgeny Yurchenko made the request to have the fine postponed, but it appears unlikely to be successful. The suspension from 2015 will likely be renewed.
“I can say that the negotiations with World Athletics, which began on the first day of my Presidency, have not stopped and continue to this day. We work in close cooperation with all interested parties – Russian Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. As of today, RusAF does not have money to pay fines issued by World Athletics and the amount required to be paid is significantly greater than the figure that is currently being circulated in the media.”
This may be a stall tactic, as RusAF will appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on November 2, 2020, to appeal the decision to have their 2015 suspension extended.
Russian athletes reached out to President Vladamir Putin. World Athletics 110m hurdles champion Sergey Shubenkov, world champion pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova and Mariya Lasitskene, who is a three-time high jump champion have penned a letter to Putin demanding him to intervene in the dispute between World Athletics (WA) and the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF).
Perhaps Yurchenko feels that if the appeal falls flat and the suspension is continued, it would be a waste of money. This of course is merely speculation.
“A large number of officials, including the head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Sports Minister and Chief of the Russian Athletics Federation have been replaced. We continue to hear statements that everything possible is being done to protect Russian athletes. And now, five years on, our athletes and coaches are not even allowed to show their potential, as they are prohibited from performing internationally even in neutral status.”
