You’ve been nominated the head of Anti-Drug Committee of the International Armsport Federation for Persons with Physical Disabilities (IAFPPD), but this is nothing new to you, right? You’ve been working with drug control for years now.

That’s true. Since drug control was introduced in armwrestling, I’ve been working with doctors and representatives of WAF. My knowledge of languages helped. I started by facilitating contacts between controllers and fighters. Then I worked with controllers on WCs and Europeans. Additionally, as a FAP member, we have good contacts with the Polish commission for drug control in sports. As we all know, Polish labs are considered one of the best in the world.

What are your plans for your new position? Do you plan any to implement any major changes?

From my contacts with fighters I know that the biggest problem is lack of education and knowledge about controlled substances. I plan to create a detailed guide, which will answer all the questions – what to observe when preparing for a tournament, what to be careful about, especially if we fall ill and have to use medicine. It will also include information on what documents we need if we have to be medicated due to any chronic illness, with medication that might include some forbidden substance. The idea is not new, but there’s finally time to deal with it. I’m going to cooperate on it with controllers and IAFPDD federation representatives.

IAFPDD has been recently joined by a new classifier, Guzel Idrissova. Do you plan to cooperate with her?

I’m happy that Guzel has joined the federation. She’s an excellent professional, very experienced. She’s been working with disabled and the Paralympic committee for years now. And they don’t joke about drugs. It’s great that we will be able to learn from the best.

Guzel has the right education and background. So far WAF has mostly consisted of enthusiasts, not necessarily educated in the trade. It’s important that professionals are also joining our ranks.

Will you be a hard leader? Should armwrestlers start being afraid?

I’m not here to threaten anyone. I think a lot of education is needed. Those who tested positive out of ignorance should be helped. Those who use drugs intentionally – should be punished.

I know armwrestlers who tested positive, because they took supplements with forbidden ingredients. And when they tested positive, it was too late. I’d like to help them through their appeals. I’m sorry for them, I know how much work they’ve put in. That’s why it’s so important to write up a detailed list of substances forbidden in armwrestling, and educate people about them.

More info: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/the-code/2015-world-anti-doping-code#.VFoKW_msUwA https://www.wada-ama.org/en/what-we-do/prohibited-list

IM