The decision to revoke Kamila Valieva's neutral status was disappointing, but not a shock. The International Skating Union (ISU) neglected its own criteria and generally did not act very decently.
But what next? At the test skates of the Russian national team in September, when asked to comment on the withdrawal of neutral status, Kamila replied that “the lawyers are working, we will fight for our rights.” The phrase was clearly memorized; the day before, it was spoken word for word by Mark Kondratyuk, who found himself in exactly the same situation. And this, by the way, was encouraging - since the answer to the obvious question was formulated (and legally competent) in advance, it means that the struggle is really underway.
But after the deadline passed, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) did not receive an appeal from Valieva. There are applications from Kondratyuk and Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin, but not from her. Perhaps email doesn't work in Lausanne or something like that - times are tough right now. But at the moment it begins to seem as if we may never receive documents from her.
And if so, what next? Perhaps the most obvious solution seems to be waiting for our full clearance. According to RIA Novosti, at the ISU summer congress and during subsequent discussions of our issue, the topic of the flag and anthem sounded very indirectly, and our delegation was well aware that it is now completely unrealistic to fight for national attributes. However, in a season or two the topic will probably arise again - and there is confidence that it will be pushed through.
In this case, all questions regarding the neutral status of someone will become irrelevant. Valieva can only wait. Perhaps a year. Or more.
Won't the federation turn away?
The unknown is not only scary, but also demotivating. Obviously, an athlete of such a high level cannot endlessly train and prepare for the table. Moreover, at our domestic competitions, where Kamila can perform without restrictions, it may turn out that priority will be given not to her, but to the skater who will be the most obvious contender for us for the main international tournaments of the season. Sending a girl to them who lost to the excluded Valieva looks like a strategic dead end.
On the other hand, a one-year period of softly sliding into a competitive routine through only national competitions outside of the international nerves can, in some sense, even be beneficial. Over the course of the first two months of the new season, we have already repeatedly seen how the burden of responsibility nails our athletes to the ice, although in past years no one was required to have perfect performances either in September or October. It was simply too early for this.
Travel to the stages of the Russian Grand Prix, the national championship, the final. Calmly getting back into shape, practicing programs from the Frenchman Benoit Richaud and properly preparing for a full return in a hypothetical season, if by that time the restrictions are lifted from us - doesn’t sound so negative, right? In technical terms, obviously, Camila has not lost much, and her presentation and gliding have only improved - so that in a year or two she will still be relevant to international rules and regulations.
But in this regard, much will depend on the federation. Will they be able to guarantee her that we will be fully admitted soon? Do we have enough resources to achieve this goal? And if suddenly not, then can they find another motivation for her in sports? And will they even want to, given the wide selection of candidates in the women’s team...
One gets the feeling that if this situation does not work out, the topic of Valieva’s return to competition may end before it has really begun. And now I wouldn’t want this.
