WAF Board Member, First Vice-president of EAF - Aleksandr Filimonov on finances.
First and foremost – WAF money.
In the past, with the previous president, it was already hard to understand where the money was. And what it was spent on. Now it’s gotten even harder.
The EAF and WAF financial resources are now held by one person only – Assen Hadjitorov. That’s never happened in the history of our sport. And no other sport either, I should think.
As witnessed not so long ago, this state cannot go on! This man couldn’t properly assess the crisis at the Worlds’, he’s ruined the main event of the year! It’s as if he spat all over the sportsmen and robbed them of their just rewards.
Let’s review the main problems within the WAF budget.
1.Firstly, of course, there are the costs of drug control.
It’s still not obvious to me, what is being paid for within the required 250 euro per one test. My many requests for documentation from the president’s office were met with silence. One document would suffice – from the WADA laboratory in Greece, for example, where WAF (according to Hadjitorov), has sent their 62 test samples gathered in Vilnius.
This document should involve the amounts paid and the details of the payer. This would allow us to calculate the cost of one test.
This document is also vital because no member of WAF is certain that all 62 tests were sent to the laboratory and paid for. It might be that only a few were.
According to Assen, the Lithuanian federation has paid for the tests. This statement is strange for a few reasons:
Firstly, drug tests are always paid for by WAF-EAF (as organizer of the 2010 WCs, I can confirm that). The organizer was bound by contract only to provide a team of WADA employees, complete with proper back-up – containers, drinking water, etc.
Secondly, it is not clear where the Lithuanian federation got the sum of 15500 euro (62 tests multiplied by 250 euro) for unplanned drug control (remember – this was always WAF territory)? After all, we have all witnessed the Lithuanian federation president declare his financial downfall.
Let us also recall, that a year ago, at the WAF congress in Poland, the Brazilian organizer of the Worlds, mister Panzetti, was asked for documents confirming the test lab and costs of drug tests during the Sao Paulo championships. The documents were not provided then, either.
Panzetti explained at length that the lab was far away and documents are very hard to obtain. Laughable. However, he still got three months to contact this far off place and get the documents.
It’s worth noticing that there is no accredited WADA lab in Brazil. It’s very easy to check - https://www.wada-ama.org/en/who-we-are/anti-doping-community/accredited-approved-laboratories/accredited-laboratories.
No documents whatsoever. A similar situation happened in America – the sum for drug control is there, but no documents are provided. But the Lithuanian case is even more complicated. What are the basis for the Lithuanian federation to suddenly pay for the tests? Has anything changed in the contract for the organizer of the Europeans and Worlds? Why does nobody know anything?
I have asked Assen to send me a contract between WAF and the Lithuanian federation, concerning the organization of the Worlds (please note that this is public information). I received no answer.
But Hadjitorov cannot keep mum about everything. We do have a democratic organization, after all.
2.Uncontrolled WAF expenditure.
All WAF congress member were surprised by the 2013 financial sheets , where a sum of 18 000 USD was included. When a USA representative asked, who has paid that money, Assen answered at once – “me”.
That means that he could also just write minus 100 000 USD in the reports, or a million, and call it his expenses, a loan, let’s say – and we’d have to pay the difference! Why? Who’s entitled him to invest his own money in WAF? When will WAF lose independence and become Hadjitorov’s debtor?
This is unacceptable!
He is not entitled to invest in our organization without the consent of other members!
To prevent this happening again in the future, a treasurer needs to be nominated. Finances should not be held by the president. This is normal in any other federation. Also, the treasurer should come from a different country that the president. This eliminates the threat of the president making unaccounted financial decisions.
3.Refereeing expenses.
Case closed. The only known quantity is the hundred percent of all championship fees, which is passed on to the main referee. After that, all is clear. Only one person knows all the details – Leonard Harkles. He alone decides who needs to be paid for airline tickets, board, food and work.
This is not very well designed. Everything should be known beforehand, and agreed with the treasurer.
To sum it all up, we’d like to ask Assen HAdjitorov again:
1.A month has passed since Lithuania – where are the medals?
2.Drug tests results have been published. Where is the official document, stating the cost of tests in the lab?
3.Where is the information about the penalty for Panzetti for his actions at the Worlds in Lithuania? Where is the official apology (on WAF website) by mister Panzetti, for insulting the girl at the event? Is he not sorry for his actions?
4.What were the basis for the Lithuanian federation paying for drug tests on its own?
5.What will the penalty be for the Lithuanian federation for the failed Worlds ? There was no TV broadcast, for example. This was the reason that the USA got no permission to organize championships in Las Vegas in 2015.
Aleksander Filimonov