Council of Europe is a way to fair sport

Question: Sports issues are very topical now. This is due to the Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup, which is to be held in Russia. Russia has been repeatedly said to use various resources to protect its athletes. Do you do a similar job in the Council of Europe?

Answer: The Council of Europe was at the starting point of the fight against doping. As early as in 1989, the Council of Europe adopted its Anti-Doping Convention. It was ratified by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1990 and is one of the main documents about the control over illegal doping along with the similar UN Convention. This convention served as a foundation for the anti-doping work of WADA and sports federations. This convention provides for a monitoring mechanism to control how the participating States fulfill their obligations. Unfortunately, WADA and sports federations privatized the fight against doping, displaced the intergovernmental organizations that stood at the beginning of these processes and, in fact, began to impose politically motivated sanctions against athletes.

The Council of Europe is almost the only channel of our interaction with WADA after the latter deprived the RUSADA of its accreditation and the representatives of the Ministry of Sport of Russia were excluded from the governing bodies of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The Strasbourg organization heads informal coordination meetings of the members-countries of the Foundation Board of WADA, and also established the "One voice" platform in the Agency, which mission is to consolidate the positions of governments in opposition to international sports organizations that have gained so much independence that impose their will on states.

Sports themes are becoming all the more prominent in the humanitarian cooperation of the Council of Europe, which is also due to the desire of the Organization to become the main developer of international sports law, using its extensive convention experience for this. Russia takes an active part in this work. For example, the representative of the Ministry of Sport of Russia is a member of the Bureau of the Council of Europe's Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS). EPAS is the main body on sports issues in the Council of Europe. It develops international standards in this field, establishes a pan-European platform where both governments and sports federations could exchange their views.

Along with the long-term goal to change the existing system which allows unaccountable bodies to remove athletes from competitions under far-fetched pretexts, we also use the available potential of the Council of Europe for resolving a doping scandal around our country.

In May 2015, a bilateral action plan was signed between Russia and the Council of Europe to combat doping. It provides for the creation of the highest anti-doping standards in the world. Russia will become a leading country in this respect after the plan has been implemented.

The plan was also coordinated with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Its subsequent systematic realization has already given its fruits. According to the interim results of its implementation, WADA authorized the Russian Anti-Doping Agency to make tests (albeit under the supervision of their colleagues from the UK), and also published a positive report on the modernization of the Russian anti-doping system. This report was recognized by WADA itself, it is in the public domain, however, for some reason everyone forgets about it when considering the issue of restoring RUSADA's accreditation in WADA.

The Ad hoc European Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency (CAHAMA) also renders significant help in overcoming the doping crisis. The Committee includes the experts from the member countries of the European Cultural Convention, working in close cooperation with WADA. The main goal of CAHAMA is to monitor how member countries comply with the anti-doping standards of WADA, as well as to help countries achieve the necessary anti-doping standards. The governing bodies of CAHAMA also submit the candidates from the European continent to the Executive Committee and the Foundation Board of WADA to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Secretary of the Council of Europe Mrs Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni has referred positively on the modernization of the Russian anti-doping system, trying to convey the true state of affairs to the professional community at the meetings of the Ad hoc Committee.

Question: It is a fairly big toolkit. And what about the ECHR? After the Lausanne court of arbitration has justified our athletes, it is quite logical to apply to the European Court of Human Rights, isn’t it?

Answer: The appeal to the ECHR is considered as an attractive option. We have certainly worked it out. However, the Court considers cases against specific countries. The fact that it is an international organization which has violated the rights and infringed the dignity of Russian athletes complicates possible applications, but does not exclude them completely if certain procedural conditions are observed, first of all, all domestic remedies should be exhausted. There is also the issue of legal support of claims by qualified lawyers. To this end, in January 2018, the first meeting of the Working Group on the development of the course "Rights and Obligations in Sport" took place within the framework of the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals. On the Russian side, MGIMO University and the Ministry of Sport oversee the project. The goal of the course is to prepare Russian sports lawyers who could protect our athletes at international venues.

At the same time, the Council of Europe seems to begin to speculate on how to protect athletes from the arbitrariness of international sports organizations.

On February 13, the Council of Europe will host a meeting of the ad hoc group on human rights law and athletes – access to justice. All the more member-states of the Convention see that existing international legal norms do not allow protecting the rights of athletes from the arbitrariness of sports federations and WADA. This causes some concern. Apparently, it is gradually beginning to become clear that international sports organizations can go after athletes from other countries after Russia given the political will of their overseas curators.

Question: Does Russia's participation in the Council of Europe help prepare for the 2018 World Cup?

Answer: It is worth mentioning the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events in this regard, which was signed by Russia in July 2016 just after this international document was officially presented and ratified in June 2017 thanks to hard work of the Ministry of Sport. Along with the prevention of hooliganism in stadiums this convention helps protect fans during the championship and create a new security system for such events in general. The participants of the meetings of the Convention's governing bodies repeatedly noted the high level of Russian preparation for the championship. However, FIFA President Gianni Infantino caused the greatest sensation at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in December last year when he said that the upcoming football festival would be "the best championship in history."

The Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions which has not yet entered into force was signed by Russia in 2014. Its ratification by member states of the Council of Europe has encountered difficulties because of Malta's position. It fears for its incomes from bookmakers and is in no hurry to give its consent to the EU to join the convention. This hinders other EU member-states to participate in the convention. Ratification of this document will allow Russia to enter the Convention Follow-up Committee and take decisions on issues within its competence, before the "impenetrable" EU consensus appears there. Russian ratification of this convention is becoming increasingly necessary due to approaching World Cup 2018.

Referring to this convention I would like to say that an informal meeting of the ministers of sport of the Council of Europe member states and the ministers of other countries invited to the championship is planned on the sidelines of this event. The meeting will discuss the promotion of this convention. At the same time, this meeting will provide an opportunity to exchange views on a broader agenda.

Sovetsky Sport