The Disciplinary Commission of the Foundation for Gymnastics Ethics (GEF) decided to dismiss from international competitions Irina Viner, head of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (VFCG) and head coach of the Russian national team. for a period of two years.
This decision is tied to the events of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where Russian Dina Averina lost to Israeli representative Lina Ashram in individual competitions, despite dropping the tape during one of the exercises. In addition, the Russians lost gold in the group matches, losing both the elimination and the final to the Bulgarian team.
These defeats marked the first time for Russian “artists” in both individual and team tournaments since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Since then, Yulia Barsukova, Alina Kabaeva, twice Evgenia Kanaeva and Margarita Mamun have constantly won the individual tournament. In group exercises, where Natalia Lavrova, Elena Posevina and Anastasia Bliznyuk each won Olympic gold twice, the girls constantly won.
Additionally, Russian athletes were clear favorites ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, and the competitions themselves had a huge impact.
Wiener then spoke publicly and harshly about refereeing, confident that his wards were not being allowed undeserved victories.
“Tomorrow’s final in the team is also extremely controversial. The Bulgarian team, who made a mistake, got ahead of Russia by scoring serious points. I think there is such an option that Bulgaria will be the first. It turned out to be sabotage – Russia is being removed in all respects, ”said, for example, after the defeat of the Averin brothers, the head of WFHG, but before the final of the group competition.
Viner spoke out harshly after the personal tournament, including the Ashram’s mistake with the ribbon.
It was Wiener’s statements about refereeing that were considered offensive and violated the rules of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
It is worth noting that the Russian Federation subsequently protested after both individual and group competitions, but was denied.
Another reason for the Russian official’s dismissal was that Russian woman Natalya Kuzmina was not accepted for re-election to the FIG technical committee in 2021. The Russian side withdrew the candidacy of an arbitrator, which it filed a complaint with an independent ethics body.
He attributed the defeats of the Russian gymnasts to Wiener, including the decisions of Kuzmina, who worked at these Olympic Games.
At the same time, the suspension of Viner will begin only after the lifting of sanctions against the Russian team, which is currently unable to participate in international competitions due to events in Ukraine. However, if this does not happen within the next five years, the suspension will be deemed to have taken place.
“Wiener is not allowed to compete in international competitions or be accredited for any role, including coach, head of delegation, or other official positions at any FIG event during a two-year period,” FIG said in a press release.
“The suspension period will count one day after the FIG assurances are lifted, provided that FIG assurances on the situation in Ukraine are lifted within five years from the date of this decision.”
The Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation is currently considering the possibility of appealing this decision.
“The federation has the right to appeal this decision within 21 days. A WFHG source told Match TV that the federation is currently investigating the possibility of filing an appeal, much on this will depend on Irina Alexandrovna’s position.
“The best ones are buried. Alive. They just want to work with addicted people who are quiet, have no opinion, submissive.
This applies not only to them, but also to us. They don’t like people of strong character neither here nor there, I don’t know where to go. Ugliness. It’s an ugly truth,” he said.
Note that in 2021, Bulgarian New York Times reporter Ognyan Georgiev suggested a similar event development.
“Wiener’s poisonous statements will come back to her and to all Russian gymnastics. The judges, whom the Russians blame for their failures, will not forget this scandal. It has put additional pressure on the next generation of gymnasts in the Russian team. They read her words to the Averines and do not forget them because one day they themselves can replace the sisters ” said.