A week before the start of the competition in Rio de Janeiro, the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee decided not to suspend the national team of Russia from 2016 Olympics as a whole, passing a number of substantial reservations is entitled to international federations of Olympic sports. In particular, caught for doping athletes from Russia road in Rio closed without any exceptions.

After the triumph of Russia at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Russians believe in the revival of Russian sport, but the exposure and doping scandals actually put Russia's sports bureaucracy and the leadership of the country to the brink of a reputational disaster: total denial of the problem and ignoring the consequences could jeopardize the continued participation of the Russian team at the Olympics in Rio. It would be strange to assume that in order to improve the international image of Russian sports are not taken substantial effort. For example, not so long ago, the Interior Ministry has proposed to equate the common doping substances to drugs, and the head of the Ministry of Sport Vitaly Mutko publicly fighting off accusations and reports on the fight against additionalngom to UNESCO.

Apparently, Russia and employs more subtle diplomatic tools for whitening the reputation of their athletes.

Olympic lottery

Significant funds for the organization of the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980 were collected through the organization of the state lottery. In 2009, prior to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Russian government issued a decree on holding the All-Russia state lotteries. The only operator of the state lottery was sold to OOO "Sports Lottery", which has received exclusive rights to use the Olympic symbols and became an official partner of the Olympic Games.
Lottery company "Sports Lottery" is registered in the capital at the Volgograd prospectus, in "Avilon Plaza" business center. Nearby offices with the most famous Russian lottery lottery organization take other brands - operators of state lotteries, "Gosloto" and "Orglot". There is an office "Finmek" LLC, which is under a different name also had to do with "Gosloto". This toMpano distributing tickets gosloterei, organized by the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of Russia. In addition to commercial organizations in the lottery "Avilon Plaza" registered charity fund to support health, education, physical culture and sports "Peak Sports» (Top Sport), established LLC "Finmek". It is known that only in the second quarter of 2013. "Gosloto" LLC paid the fund for more than ten million rubles in the form of targeted payments. We could not find any organization's website or informative report on the expenditure of these funds. The Ministry of Justice posted on this site reports the organization said that from 2012 to 2015 inclusive, it has received more than 161 million rubles from commercial organizations.

Creator of "Top Sport" is JSC "Trading House" Stoloto, "as reported on the website of the trading house. Among listed investment fund achievements in the construction of sports facilities, charitable assistance to the Special Olympic Committee of St. Petersburg, the Russian Union of fans, a trip to Russian bolelschikov at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

Anti-Doping management

The name of this charity in the English interpretation (Top Sport Charity Foundation) with the same address registration in Moscow also featured in a rather strange place for a Russian charity funds. The organization is recorded as the principal hires US lobbying group to promote their own interests in the US, and is listed in the registry of foreign agents FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act). Judging by the placement on the site FARA act, "Top Sport" Foundation has hired well-known in the United States PR-company Burson-Marsteller, whose clients are registered corporation Facebook, IBM and Ford. The company is engaged in lobbying and by providing the relevant services of the Government of Cyprus, Taiwan, Qatar and Greece. In 1991, the company entered the Russian market, "to explain to the Russians that this privatization."

Based on the attached documents, the amount of the contract between Burson-Marsteller and Top Sport Charity Foundation in one month (May) was $ 70 000. The American PR people had to advise the Fund on the conventDo issues related to building a communications and media coverage of information related to the participation of Russia at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

It should be noted that Burson-Marsteller Partners associated with US political leaders. For example, the former director of the company, Mark Penn (Mark Penn), who also served as vice-president of Microsoft, he worked as chief specialist in strategic planning at the headquarters of Hillary Clinton during the last presidential campaign. Former COO Burson-Marsteller Peter Kelly (Peter G. Kelly) has long served as the deputy of the Democratic Party at the local, regional and federal level. Moreover, in late May, it was reported that the transnational communications holding WWP LLC, which owns Burson-Marsteller, also has a direct connection with a team of Democrats supporting Hillary Clinton campaign.

We can assume that Burson-Marsteller efforts paid off: for example, the US Olympic Committee supported the decision of the IOC with regard to Russian athletes. At today's opening of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro present and our team, letand incomplete. Apparently, the money to close the interests of State Hillary Clinton, US lobbyists spent not entirely in vain.