The Sport is Degenerated

Now that a new FIG president has been elected, let's take a rewind in time and revisit an interview with Grandi concerning the RG corruption scandal that was exposed by the NY Times. As usual, Grandi tries for the diplomatic but ultimately can't stop the punches when he admits to something smelling fishy about Russia always winning in rhythmic. Enjoy!

Interview by Sandra Schmidt for LEON Magazine

What happened in Bucharest?

One remark and this is important. It is incredibly difficult to determine the difficulty [score] in RG. It’s not like AG where there is black and white and each routine has an exact D score. I need transparent scores! But for the past twelve years, the experts in RG have been telling me that it’s not possible to have just black and white. That’s why there is a reference score determined by the Technical Committee. The judges can deviate from this score, but only by so much. Judging by the [exam] results from Bucharest, all of a sudden there was black and white (meaning scores were similar), a fact which brought on doubts from my side. So, I asked "Did you change the code? Is there black and white now? That’s wonderful! Congratulations!” Ah, no, no, it’s not like that.
There had to be another reason. So, we started investigating. At the last World Championships in Montpellier the judges met the TC’s (technical committee's) reference score in two out of a total of 480 routines. But in Bucharest, this happened in 34 out of a total of 117 routines. The rest were only a tenth higher or lower! 10 per cent of the judges had exactly the right score for every single routine! We started having doubts [and felt] that the judges had received the answers [to the exam questions] beforehand. From whom? From the Technical Committee! We asked for the papers from Bucharest. They had disappeared, were simply gone! This is the TC president’s responsibility. As is the bonus that was used to raise the average of the exam results [to have more Cat 1 and 2 judges- TAA]. The bonus needs to be applied transparently and according to the same principle for all judges. But they gave 50% bonus to one judge, five per cent to another and no bonus to the third. According to their principle – 'you’re my friend so I’ll give you something. And then [I’ll give something] to friends of friends' and so on. TC president Maria Szyszkowska was stripped of her honorary FIG membership.

The Disciplinary Commission’s [initial] decision was appealed?

Yes, but I also appealed. They decided the judges were innocent. No, no! It just can’t be. They knew the answers and used them [the interview took place on 23 July prior to the latest rulings]

In your opinion what should happen to the Technical Committee?

They are currently suspended but I don’t have the goal of kicking them out. Not at all. They are an elected [FIG] body, I have to respect that. They are going to hate me now, and I can actually understand that; because I have lifted the lid of a pot full of lies and violation of the rules.

It’s not the first time there are problems in RG? What’s your opinion on an independent RG federation?

This idea, it seems, was already brought up by a strong country.* If they want to do that...But RG will then no longer be an Olympic sport since the FIG is the International Federation recognized by the IOC. We have other sports as well. My goal is to create new rules and prove to the IOC that RG can also work correctly.

Irina Viner’s comment on the Disciplinary Commission’s ruling was that it was Russia’s job to “always win everywhere,” something Russia has been doing for a long time. What does that mean for the sport?

I think it’s bad for the sport. If there is only one winner in a sport, this sport degenerates. We have seen this [happen] in other sports. The other teams start pulling out and it is clear that there is only a large interest in a sport – from the federations, the journalists, the audience – if there are different champions. One federation president told me: Why should I invest in RG? I will never win anything. But please be careful: I am not saying Russia hasn’t deserved to win until now. Well, ok, I have my doubts concerning the group competition in Beijing…

So, what is to be done with RG?

RG is a beautiful sport! But the sport is degenerated. What that means? First of all, we need to take the name Rhythmic Gymnastics seriously. Rhythm needs to be the decisive criteria, something which practically never happens now! Everything needs to be redefined, that means a new CoP as well. Currently, the scoring has no legitimacy, and the sport will continue to degenerate until we reach this.

There was a retest in Frankfurt in late July, How did that go?

[General Secretary] André Gueisbuhler and [Vice President] Slava Corn ran it with a number of other FIG employees. In addition, we selected three experts who did not leave a negative impression in Bucharest but they also had to sit the exam.

How were the judges for the World Championships in Kiev selected?

We drew them from the pool of those who got their brevets in Frankfurt. But if the same judges that were already suspicious in Bucharest are noticed again [in Kiev], they will be excluded [from judging] since they would then be repeat offenders.

*For a time, Russia threatened to break away and form a rhythmic union, separate from the FIG (but as Grandi mentioned, it would then cease to be at the Olympics, and become as obscure as men's rhythmic is). Ultimately, they did not have the support to do such a thing. Many country's were actually exited about competing without Russia!