The Russian swimming federation says it will no longer be covering athletes’ fines relating to anti-doping responsibilities, instead passing those fines on to the athletes themselves.
WWF, the national governing body for swimming within Russia, announced the news on its website this week. Federation president Vladimir Salnikov characterized some athletes attitudes as “careless” when it comes to anti-doping responsibilities and said the federation was experiencing “financial loss due to the fact that some athletes are failing their duties” to adhere to international anti-doping rules, in a rough translation of the original Russian.
A translation of the statement suggests that the Russian swim federation will no longer cover the fines associated with failed anti-doping tests or failure to adhere to international anti-doping rules. The federation says it will now be billing athletes directly for their anti-doping fines, though the WWF says the specific mechanism for that payment is still being worked out. The WWF statement says that system will be presented “at a later date.”