Isinbayeva's appeal to Putin and the IOC to help save Russian athletics

The double Olympic champion warned that the clean athletes of her country will not be able to compete, if on July 1^st the 4.5 million euros fine imposed by the World Athletics is not paid.

Russian athletics is "on the brink of disaster." In this crude and heart-breaking way, former athlete Yelena Isinbayeva has appealed directly to President Putin to resolve the situation which may prevent Clean Russian athletes from competing at any international event. This disaster may happen within a few hours of the July 1 deadline, if the Russian Athletics Federation don’t pay half of the 9 million euro fine imposed by the World Athletics (IAAF). The financial penalty was imposed in January 2020 after the Russian Athletics Federation cover-up, demonstrated in the case of doping controls for high jumper Danil Lysenko. At the time of writing this article, we have no information on the resolution of this situation.

The double Olympic pole-vaulting champion signed a letter to Putin, together with other "clean" Russian athletes, warning him of the seriousness of the situation.  Given the urgency of the payment that was due last Wednesday, July 1^st ,Isinbayeva has also launched an SOS through another letter to World Athletics President Sebastian Coe and the IOC, Thomas Bach, in which she draws the attention of Both organizations, warning that being out of competitions would be "a gross violation of sporting principles and the rights of clean athletes."

In both letters she warned that if the corresponding payment is not made, the Authorized Neutral Athlete (ANA) process will be suspended, which allows certain Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag. "The international federation has no right to deny the opportunity to Russian Clean athletes who pass a strict selection through the most serious controls, to participate in international competitions, at least, under neutral status. In our opinion, stripping ourselves of these rights is a gross violation of sporting principles and athletes' rights clean, "she concludes.