Russian Athletes Competing Under Syrian Team Names at Arab Games Face Criminal Charges

Russian athletes have reportedly entered the roster for the upcoming Arab Games in Algeria under the names of Syrian team members with altered names. This has been reported by theins.ru.

Among the participants are seven Russian women, including badminton player Daria Dzhegulyan (listed as Dasha Dedhula on the site), cyclists Daria and Tatyana Malkova (appearing as Daria Malco and Tatyana Malco), swimmer Anastasia Sorokina (listed as Enas Sorkine), and javelin thrower Karina Poludkina (registered as Karina Polud). Additionally, Daria Malkova's birth year has been changed from 2000 to 2001.

While two athletes, Alexandra Maksimova in artistic gymnastics and Milana Mrad in judo, have officially completed the procedure to change their sports citizenship, it remains unclear how the Russian athletes ended up on the Syrian team without following the necessary sports federation procedures. The head of the Syrian Sports Federation, Firas Maalan, stated that there were no non-Syrian athletes in the country's roster for the Arab Games.

The Russian Ministry of Sports also declared that the information presented on the tournament's website does not reflect reality, and Russian athletes are not participating in the Arab Games.

Sports.ru managed to locate individuals involved in recruiting Russian athletes, suggesting that the Syrian Sports Federation may have been aware of the recruitment process. It was reported that athletes were offered a monthly payment of $2,500 with an additional $2,000 if they secured victory, along with specific conditions.

Sports lawyer Sergey Alexeyev explained that federations hold no collective responsibility, meaning individual officials may face punishment. It is also possible that the athletes themselves could face penalties ranging from fines to disqualification and criminal charges, depending on the investigation's findings.

“The situation requires investigation, but it is likely that the athletes themselves are not at fault, as they certainly did not intend to deceive Russia and compete under a false flag. We can only say that they were supposed to participate in commercial tournaments privately, rather than deceive or betray Russia. Athletes will be dealt with individually; if it is proven that they intentionally committed this fraud and knew it was illegal, they may face disqualification from the respective sports federations they are registered with. The federations will conduct investigations and hold disciplinary proceedings; if a breach of disciplinary regulations is found, sanctions will be applied to the athletes,” said the sports lawyer.