The Gymnastics Ethics Foundation Appeal Tribunal made the decision regarding Ivan Kuliak’s suspension. In May, Kuliak received a one-year suspension from any competitions sanctioned by the FIG or organized by its member federations due to wearing a pro-war symbol at the Doha World Cup. However, as Russian athletes are already suspended from international competitions, the ban would last for an additional half a year after Russians could return to competitions. Since the ban on Russian athletes could potentially last well over a year, it would have prolonged Kuliak’s individual ban.
The Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation with the help of the Ministry of Sports filed an appeal. According to Valentina Rodionenko, they hoped to allow Kuliak compete at national competitions – after all, no Russian is competing internationally anyway. However, the original suspension decision was mostly upheld – he will still be banned from competing internationally or nationally for a year. His suspension, though, will now be independent of the ban on the Russian athletes and will end on May 16th. Additionally, Kuliak will have to pay the cost of the appeal – CHF 5,000.
This decision seemed to have satisfied the Russian side and they do not plan on going to the CAS to appeal it further. However, it seems that they did not give up on the idea of Kuliak competing at national competitions. Soon after the original suspension decision was made, Rodionenko announced to the media that Kuliak would compete at the Russian Cup – he even appeared on the start list. She claimed that the FIG had no authority to decide who can compete at Russian national competitions. However, if he competed and, thus, violated the terms of his suspension, the federation would have faced more serious consequences. Shortly before the start of the Russian Cup, Kuliak was taken off the start list. He still appeared at the event, held in his home city of Kaluga, as a guest of honor. There were speculations the federation tried to claim the Russian Cup was technically organized by the Ministry of Sports and not the federation, so it was exempt from the ban. Technically, all Russian competitions organized by the gymnastics federation are organized by the Ministry of Sports, since the federation is a part of the Ministry. But this is still the excuse the federation is trying to allow Kuliak compete at the upcoming Spartakiade:
“The Russian gymnastics federation sent a letter to the FIG explaining that this competition is organized by the Russian Ministry of Sports and we ask for a permission [to compete] at this event. We’re waiting for the reply.”
According to Valentina Rodionenko, Kuliak is once again on the roster for the competition that is supposed to start next week.
This competition is a bit different from the Russian Cup because it is a multi-sport event and the artistic gymnastics federation is only responsible for the artistic gymnastics portion. But to claim they are not the organizers is a reach – the federation approved the code of the competition, it is sending judges, deciding on criteria for participants, handling registrations and so on. It is very clearly organized by the Russian artistic gymnastics federation.
Kuliak is no doubt eager to start competing again. He has become a celebrity and a national hero in Russia practically overnight, so his first appearance at a competition will be a huge event regardless of his actual performance. Getting the Spartakiade prize money that is supposed to replace the prize money gymnasts get for Worlds and Euros also wouldn’t hurt – it is an important source of income for Russian gymnasts. However, Kuliak is unlikely to struggle financially – the authorities are handling all the legal expenses (Kuliak’s little appliqué already cost them at least $10,000 altogether) and, due to his newfound stardom, he got sponsorship and appearance opportunities. Even if his is banned from the Spartakiade, he might return to competition earlier than May 2023. Vassily Titov said Russia is starting its own club competition similar to that of Germany, Italy, and France and the competition is supposed to take place in December. Club competitions are not part of the FIG and thus, even banned athletes can compete – for example, Artur Dalaloyan competed at the Italian Serie A even after Russian athletes were banned internationally.
The international ban of Russian athletes might not last very long either. The chair of the USOPC Susanne Lyons said the International Olympic Committee is currently discussing possible opportunities for Russian athletes to return to international competitions. According to Lyons,
“The Olympic Movement is really built on the notion that athletes from around the world should be able to come together in peace and be able to compete with respect, equality and friendship. We know that the IOC is beginning to think about whether there is a pathway back for the Russian athletes. They are beginning to reach out to all their stakeholders, including the NOCs, the International Federations, to get input on that topic, so I don’t think any decisions have been made yet. But I think all of us feel at some point in time the individual athletes should not be the victims of whatever their individual Governments, political or other tensions are around the world.”
Lyons seems to have a very naive view of international athletes and does, or at least pretends to, not understand the place sports have in state propaganda. Meanwhile, the supposed victims of the government in Russia openly and eagerly express their support for the war, like Ivan Kuliak, or go even further and head the Russian version of Hitlerjugend, like Nikita Nagorny.
