Russian athletes suffered significant financial losses totaling over a billion rubles due to imposed sanctions.
On October 20, during a forum gathering, the cat was let out of the bag by him, according to TASS reports. He accused athletes and coaches of pocketing state funds, readily available thanks to federations and international competition organizers, as per Sengelev's revelation. The total misspent sum turned out to be a whopping 1.064 billion rubles.
Apparently, these financial shenanigans left all-Russian sports federations with a staggering, combined annual budget deficit of over 4.3 billion rubles, as per RIA Novosti Sport's reports. The majority of sports federations were in the red.
From the second half of 2022, Russia funded a smattering of 110 championships across 28 sports, amounting to 96.45 million rubles. Sengelev, the general director, also reported the committee had axed funding for programs amounting to a hefty 3.5 billion rubles.
He didn't stop there; Sengelev added that Russia hosted 42 sporting events with participants from 64 countries during this period, forking out a total of 207.4 million rubles, including 152.4 million rubles in prize money.
Earlier, the president of ROC had voiced aspirations for Russia to muscle its way into the 2028 Olympics in the US during the forum's plenary session. "I'm hopeful that by that time, sanctions against us will be lifted and our relationship will have improved," he added.
The sports landscape in Russia was crippled due to economic impact from international sanctions and bans following their full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. These sanctions slashed revenue for Russia, as their teams were barred from participating in international competitions, denying crucial television rights income.
Many international companies, sports-related or otherwise, also suspended or considerably curtailed their operations in Russia, further contributing to the economic turmoil surrounding Russian sports. The International Olympic Committee, major sports federations, and other organizations banned Russian teams and athletes, restricting or barring them from international competitions. Some athletes were allowed to compete under a strict, neutral status without national symbols.
Russian teams, including their formidable hockey team, remained prohibited from the 2026 Winter Olympics as of October 2022, with the IOC stating that Russian teams could not participate as teams but only as neutral athletes. Efforts were ongoing within sports federations for Russian athletes to reinstate full participation in international competitions, but these were heavily contingent on political and governance decisions.
- The shocking revelations about theft in sports funding have overshadowed the general news cycle in Russia, with the sports landscape being crippled by economic sanctions and bans.
- As political scandals continue to dominate the headlines, the ongoing dispute between Russian sports federations and international organizations over participation in major competitions has also been making the news.
