OKR approved the rating system for evaluating the activities of sports federations

Mikhail Degtyarev, who from the end of last year combines both key posts in the domestic sports industry – the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation and the President of the Olympic Committee of Russia (OKR), will enhance control over the activities of national federations. Since June, the new RCR commission will draw up their rating that evaluates the effectiveness of activities in the field of international cooperation. Its appearance is intended to stimulate the federation, despite the continuing to act in all types of sanctions that limit and sometimes exclude the participation of Russians in top competitions, to strengthen the work on “reintegration” in world sport. The return to it is the main element of the strategy of Mikhail Degtyarev, who told Kommersant that “the introduction of a rating system for assessing the international activity of sports federations is a systemic step aimed at increasing transparency and handling in this important area.”

The fact that a new classification will appear in Russian sport, it became known after the executive committee of the Olympic Committee of Russia held on Thursday. He approved the so -called “Regulation on the rating system for assessing the activities of all -Russian sports federations in the field of international sports cooperation”. The source “Kommersant”, familiar with the text of the report of the General Secretary of the OKR Viktor Berezov, who submitted the document, said that, according to him, the activities of the sports federation in the segment designated by the Regulation will be evaluated on the basis of key performance indicators (CPE).

Everyone will be measured in points in the range from 0 to 50. In total, they will form a rating of federations, which will become a “guideline in the formation of a strategy for interaction with international structures”. The new profile commission of the OKR will be responsible for drawing up the classification.

The Federation, as the Kommersant source specified, must regularly provide it with “relevant information”, and the first rating will be published in the summer.

Indicators in question in the document are a total of five. This is a “representative office in the bodies of international/continental federations”, “contacts of managers with the international sports community”, “decisions made favorable to Russian athletes”, “conducting international competitions in Russia”, “activity in media and other aspects”.

The interlocutor of Kommersant, familiar with the process of taking the provision, recalled that it was the “international agenda” that is the “cornerstone” of the strategy of Mikhail Degtyarev, who in 2024 was first appointed Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, and in December took the position of president of the OCD, the second most important position in the industry. Prior to this, “confrontation” mood prevailed in it. The Russian sports community preferred to aggressively respond to the sanctions regime, which was forced to exist since 2022, after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. This approach led, in particular, to the fact that at a neutral status, only 15 athletes represented Russia in the Olympiad in Paris in Paris in Paris.

Mikhail Degtyarev, meanwhile, announced a radical change in the course and the need to strive for a “full return” to the world sports and Olympic movement, despite the continuing sanctions.

In some types, they are quite soft and only complicate the admission to top competitions, in some they still completely or almost completely exclude it.

The process of “sports reintegration” of Russia, in fact, from the end of last year has turned into an extremely noticeable phenomenon. In it in the past months, there were even a number of real breakthroughs like permission by elite fencers to perform not only in personal, but also in team tournaments (previously admission to athletes from Russia was prohibited in all types). True, he still encounters difficulties.

For example, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), formally willingly accepting applications for the acquisition of neutral status from Russian athletes, rejected many of them for extremely strange reasons, which provoked the boycott of their competitions by Russians. And the International Union of Skating Handles (ISU), finding himself the first large Federation on winter species to sanctifying the participation of Russia representatives at the Olympics in Milan and Cortina-D’Ampezzo in the next year, ultimately rejected half of the applications from the skaters, leaving them without tournaments of greenhouses and dancers.

Meanwhile, according to the “Kommersant” source, the problems with “reintegration”, as the authors of the idea of ​​the rating believe, aggravates the fact that the Federation “with varying degrees of responsibility reacted to the message of Mikhail Degtyarev”.

The source indicated that a number of them have already achieved serious and unconditional successes, « despite their foreign partners did not previously have been among the loyal ones. » As positive examples, he cited the Federation of Water Sports of Russia, which was able to send to the December World Championship sailing on the “short” water in Budapest, the almost strongest composition of the national team; The All -Russian Volleyball Federation, which provided the participation of two clubs in March – Dynamo and Novova – in a fairly large international tournament in Dubai (Dynamo won gold on it); And a number of structures.

However, according to the source, not all federations « use any possibilities to establish contacts, despite the difficulties. » And the interlocutor of Kommersant in the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation directly said that “the current moment requires the tightening of nuts”, since “some leaders only indicate the desire to strengthen such contacts, from time to time flying abroad to meetings due to budgetary funds or receipts from bookmakers, but in reality and not trying to agree on, and they are satisfied with the situation when a deficit of activity can be drunk for sanctions.”

In the commentary for Kommersant, this thesis is actually confirmed by Mikhail Degtyarev himself. Mr. Degtyarev noted that “the introduction of a rating system for evaluating the international activities of sports federations is a systematic step aimed at increasing transparency and handling in this important field”, saying that “the decision of the OKR Executive Committee was made in accordance with the course on the coordination of international cooperation indicated from the first day” of his work.

Mikhail Degtyarev is sure that « the new mechanism will objectively evaluate the efforts of the federations, stimulate them to a proactive position in the international arena and take into account the real contribution in the development of decisions. »

In his opinion, “the system is built on clear KPE, a point assessment and regular reporting, which excludes subjectivity and gives a single landmark for everyone.” “The decisions of international federations in favor of Russia are seriously raising the rating, but even working contacts abroad, speeches in international media – everything will go to the piggy bank. Water sharpens the stone. A lot of contacts and meetings, many performances – this is all in the piggy bank, it paves the way for decisions in favor of our athletes and a sharp increase in the rating of a particular federation, ”added Mr. Degtyarev.

The situation adopted by the Executive Committee of the OCD does not say what consequences will have for the federations the publication of the rating and their place in it. But the Kommersant source in the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation noted that after the finalization of the system “bonuses and punishments will certainly arise”. And Mikhail Degtyarev emphasized that the rating is “not only the coordination tool, but also the basis for the distribution of resources in the near future and the subject dialogue with the federations.”

Sports manager Andrei Mitkov in a conversation with Kommersant suggested that it would be “quite difficult” to achieve “absolute objectivity” when compiling a new rating because of a “huge number of nuances”, and his effectiveness “shows only time”. But, in the expert’s opinion, the invented classification of federations can be definitely considered as “another convincing evidence of the trend for the consolidation of sports power around the figure of Mikhail Degtyarev.”

Alexey Prepokhov