– The whole thing becomes completely ridiculous when he uses money as such a clear means of pressure. If he does not get what he wants, he withdraws the promised financial contribution. It’s sad, says shooter Simon Kolstad Claussen to news. The Russian president of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Vladimir Lisin did not walk quietly in the corridors when he lost the presidential election in November. He lost the election to the Italian candidate Luciano Rossi, and that means that a very powerful Russian oligarch is no longer part of the association. TORNAR: Simon Kolstad Claussen is not impressed by the behavior of the former president. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – Incredibly boring He is referred to as Russia’s richest, something that has been good for an otherwise rather marginal sport. But when the tournament, which is called the President’s Cup, took place, Lisin suddenly got upset, and is said to have refused to pay out the agreed cash prizes to the athletes. – It is of course very boring – we are not used to having prize money. There is some (prize money) in the EC, but also in this President’s Cup that he has constructed. It’s incredibly boring that we don’t get the money we were promised we would get, says shooter Jeanette Hegg Duestad to news. – Personally, one gets extremely frustrated. It is the athletes that this primarily affects, says Claussen. Both Duestad and Claussen were present during the event, but have not seen anything about the money. According to Duestad, the money must have been frozen shortly after the presidential election, which meant that the union had no opportunity to pay out. – It should not be possible for the union to pay out money, she says, referring to the president’s refusal to pay. The tournament is considered the most luxurious when it comes to prize money, and the motivation is therefore high among the athletes when this tournament takes place. news has tried to get in touch with the ISSF, initially without success. SKUFFA: He was not re-elected as president two days before the last competition. Then this money was not paid out. It should not be possible that when the union has to pay out money, he can freeze it, says Duestad. Photo: news – Didn’t get NOK 300,000 Duestad thinks a change of president has been in the air for a long time, and points out that Lisin’s most positive contribution has been the money. – When there was a change, we weren’t sure if the money would come. So it is not a surprise, but we had hoped that he would deliver what he promised. Ending her term in a slightly better way would perhaps have been a chess move, she believes. Both Sagittarius are happy about the change of president. – The fact that we now have a new president and a new management is very good, but there is a lot for them to clean up from their predecessors, Claussen points out. – I think it is healthy to have a change and it is very good that they have replaced the president, but also a lot of the international association. I hope and believe that this can be very positive for the sport going forward, says Duestad. UNPOPULAR: Vladimir Lisin gets his passport endorsed by several people after his presidential resignation. Photo: SERGEI KARPUKHIN / Reuters The Shooting Association states that the Norwegians were entitled to around NOK 180,000, while Duestad claims that the amount was over NOK 300,000 distributed among the five Norwegian participants in the tournament. – When the athletes traveled down, the plan was for the president to cover their stay and travel. We are anxious to see if we will get it refunded, says president of the shooting association Bjørn Harald Vik. – It’s about power But this is not the only time there has been an uproar over the prize money. Because something similar happened during the EC in Hamar in March. It was shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, and then the Norwegian union decided that he and general secretary Alexander Ratner were not welcome. Then Lisin took action again, and withheld the prizes. The whole thing even with the Norwegian Shooting Association having to cover the costs, which ended up being around half a million. Vik says that there were doubts about where the money came from, and he says that the Norwegians had decided not to accept the money either. – Then we (the shooting association) decided to give prizes to both para athletes and able-bodied. Most of the surplus from the championship was used for that, he says. – How frustrating is it for them that Lisin behaves like that? – The way he has behaved, he has shown his true self. The sport is not important to him, it is about exercising power and he does that with his money, says Vik. TEAMMATES: Duestad and Claussen say they see extra value in the prize money they get. From before, they are dependent on support from parents, and sponsors in addition to the support you get from the Federation and the Olympiatoppen. Photo: Norges Skytterforbund / NTB Complete confusion Since Lisin’s defeat became a fact, several problems have arisen during the takeover. There has been a problem with getting into the Twitter accounts of the international association and there has been uncertainty about keys and how they should get into the office. It has been virtually silent from Lisin as well, and there has been little communication with the environment since the change of leadership. – What has happened is completely hopeless. Lisin had a Russian organization around him, and Rossi just had to start over. They let everything they had out of their hands, and they didn’t even publish a news item about the presidential election – it’s completely wild. It shouldn’t be like that, says head of sport in the Norwegian Archery Association Tor Idar Aune. REACTS: Sports director Tor Idar Aune. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB He followed the athletes closely in the somewhat unstable situation, and he says that many of them coped with the situation in a good way. He further says that they understand that they are part of a game. – It is a pity for the athletes who experience this. They have little money and want to be the best in the world. The athletes’ finances are the biggest challenge in sport, and we work every day so that they can fulfill their dreams, says Aune.
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