Stanislav Pozdnyakov, ROC President and member of the ANOC Executive Committee, took part in the meeting of the Executive Council of the Association of National Olympic Committees, held in Lausanne on January 22.
During the meeting, the new ANOC Commissions were approved and their leaders presented the development concepts for their respective areas of activity for 2019. As the head of the ANOC Commission on Culture and Education, Stanislav Pozdnyakov gave a speech focusing on such topics as the formation of a sustainable anti-doping culture in society and the development of comprehensive educational projects. Some of these are similar to ROC programs implemented at the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) and there is the possibility for effective mutual integration and cooperation.
The meeting of the ANOC Executive Council was opened by IOC President Thomas Bach. Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the Swiss forum, there were active discussions about the events going on in Montreal, where the Executive Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) assessed Russia’s fulfillment of the conditions necessary for the official reinstatement of RUSADA.
– For our part, we welcome the decision of the WADA Executive Committee to make no further changes to the status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and to refrain from applying any sanctions against it, – said Stanislav Pozdnyakov in an interview to the ROC Information Service. – We are content that the efforts made by our country to reform the anti-doping system and RUSADA were highly praised by WADA and became the basis for making a positive decision for us. A reformed RUSADA is now trusted again and the work of the organization is receiving high ratings from our foreign colleagues. For us, this is a good sign.
The situation is gradually changing for the better, in order to compare, we can recall the situation with Russian sports at the same time last year – it was much worse. Now we are preparing for this year’s competitions in a planned manner, namely the European Games and two European Olympic Youth Festivals. Furthermore, the Olympic Games in Tokyo are close at hand. There is information appearing from time to time stating that the participation of our Olympic team in Tokyo is in jeopardy because of some potentially new sanctions.
I can now say that such fears are unwarranted. In this regard our position fully coincides with the position of the leadership of IOC, recently voiced by Thomas Bach. It highlights the fact that the strict disciplinary measures against the Russian Olympic Committee had already been imposed before the Games in Pyeongchang. Since then, we have moved on and neither IOC nor WADA have any further questions for the Russian Olympic Committee. By the way, over the past year all our steps have been met with the fullest support of our colleagues, and I believe that our cooperation on every issue is constructive.
At the same time, we are closely monitoring the situation that has developed around the Russian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. It is important that the decisions of the IBSF anti-doping commission are implemented in full. We look forward to the possibility of convening an extraordinary conference and we are open to discussing all the relevant issues with the acting head of the federation.
