On December 4 of this year, the Athletics Federation of Moldova (FAM) had reason to celebrate. World Athletics announced its decision that, following the 2024 report, progress had been recognized in improving judging standards and procedures since 2022. As a result, it was decided that the following member federations would be removed from the monitoring list for competition result manipulation : Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
As the local saying goes, “The spoons were found, but the aftertaste remains.”
During this period, the aforementioned federations faced sanctions of varying severity or the threat of such measures. Most leaders got off with little more than a scare — except for the Albanian officials, who were suspended or disqualified for long terms.
Positive changes have indeed taken place here — no one denies that. At last, there’s a real understanding of what a conflict of interest means, refereeing courses have been completed, and other improvements made.
However, the main factor that led to the lifting of the monitoring status was the major transformation carried out on the throwing field. In truth, the credit for this belongs not to the Athletics Federation of Moldova, but primarily to the Ministry responsible for sports — and, with deep respect, to the director of the Manege athletics arena, Vasilii Fortuna.
Two years ago, when the monitoring was announced, the FAM tried to conceal this shameful fact — but it didn’t work; as the saying goes, “you can’t hide an awl in a sack.”
Who was to blame? Of course, the “mirror” — meaning the journalists, those who dared to translate and publish the official press release issued by World Athletics.
And what did such exposure provoke? Punishment for those who made this disgrace public. It seems that the seasoned FAM leaders, President Anatolie Balan and General Secretary Constantin Negura, likely “stirred up” the passionate throwers, deftly shifting the blame away from themselves and onto the so-called culprits – Sport-Time.
Almost immediately, crude hate appeared on social media — coming from members of a certain well-known, though far from saintly, family. And – after public abuse came the “letter of the 22” — addressed to the FAM, the NOC, and our editorial office.
It took this letter nearly a year and a half to reach us through the federation! This little “letter without an envelope” deserves special attention and a separate article, as it violates numerous ethical norms, rules, and laws — both of the Republic of Moldova and international standards — and vividly reveals who the true authors and signatories really are.
Editor’s Note:
The so-called “open letter” referenced earlier was signed by 22 individuals from within the athletics community. Despite claiming to be written by athletes – only 8 of the 22 are effectively athletes, others are either veterans or coaches. The letter cited a news article that had merely translated a World Athletics press release announcing the creation of the competition-manipulation watchlist. The letter claimed that this article constituted a “smear campaign” against Moldovan athletes — despite the fact that no Moldovan athletes were mentioned in the original piece — and argued that journalist Serghei Donets and deputy editor-in-chief Natalia Donets should be barred from working at athletics events altogether because of this so-called “attack”.
Subsequently, this letter was used by the Federation to deny Serghei Donets accreditation to the European Athletics Championships in Rome 2024 — a decision that stands in clear contradiction to both Moldovan and international legislation protecting freedom of the press. The same letter was later cited as justification for denying photographer accreditation to Natalia Donets for the Paris Olympic Games.
The circumstances surrounding the letter’s creation suggest that its authors acted with implicit approval or encouragement from the Federation. Moreover, available evidence points to its origin within the Marghiev family, whose past record includes serious breaches of integrity related to doping — one of the factors that contributed to Moldova’s inclusion on the competition manipulation watchlist. The elder Marghievs were in-field referees measuring hammer throw results, while their three children competed at the National Championships, setting records and securing qualifications to international competitions while their owns parents were holding the measuring tape. Immediately upon publication of the article, the family in question reacted with a public denigrating tirade against both Serghei and Natalia Donets on Facebook.
Also, it is interesting to note that at least 7 individual signatories have either had doping bans of their own, or their disciples have been banned while these signatories were their coaches. One signatory is a Russian citizen and doesn’t have a Moldovan passport. While one more signatory admitted to Serghei Donets that he has not even read the article on competition manipulation that was being used as excuse to ban Serghei and Natalia Donets from working in athletics.
Center for Independent Journalism has found that the letter – and the actions of FAM that used is as excuse to deny accreditation – breaches national law.
The announcement of the upcoming removal from the competition manipulation monitoring list doesn’t mean that we “got off easy” — far from it. There is at least one more so-called “case pending”. The international bureaucratic machine moves slowly, but steadily — for example, the redistribution and awarding of the women’s 4×400 meter relay medals from the 2012 London Olympics is only happening now, even though doping violations by the Russian athletes, who originally finished second, were discovered many, many years ago.
Revenons à nos moutons, as the French say: here we have an outrageous case of ignoring both international rules and the Moldovan law “On Physical Culture and Sport” by the FAM.
It turns out that, for years, a citizen of another country — holding only a residence permit in Moldova — repeatedly competed for the Moldovan national team. You didn’t know about this? No?! In the old days, this would simply have been called a “stand-in.” A stand-in not just for the throwers, but for everyone else — for the entire Moldovan federation.
The rules of the World Athletics Competitions Rules (Chapter One, Section: International Competitions, Rule 5 – Right to Represent) state that, in order to have the right to represent a country, an athlete must be a citizen of the country they intend to represent in international competitions.
Here is what the corresponding provision says under Moldovan law: “Law on Physical Culture and Sport” No. 330-XIV of March 25, 1999
Article 5
…Foreign citizens and stateless persons residing in the territory of the Republic of Moldova enjoy full rights to engage in physical culture and sport as provided by this law, except for the right to compete as part of the national teams of the Republic of Moldova in international competitions.
Who are we talking about? Andrei Fedotov, a pole-vaulter from Tiraspol, a Russian citizen who holds only a residence permit in Moldova. He repeatedly competed for Moldova in various competitions, in clear violation of both laws and regulations.
How was this possible? President Anatolie Balan personally decides who will go to international competitions, signs the delegation lists, and submits visa requests. A key role in this process is also played by Secretary General Constantin Negura — he has always served as head of the delegation at all international team competitions. And Ion Frunza, who at that time worked as the Federation’s office secretary (not to be mistaken with the role of General Secretary), he was responsible for tasks such as registering athletes for competitions, filling out entry information, and completing visa forms. He handled and copied all passports and other documents.
So, all three knew exactly what they were doing and deliberately violated the laws and regulations. They say Ion Frunza has a legal education… well, apparently even knowledge of law is not enough to stop violations!
Such a serious violation in a sport like football, even a single instance, would lead to the disqualification of the entire team, removal from competitions, annulment of results, fines, and disqualifications for all involved.
Here in Moldova, President Balan, Secretary General Negura, and Ion Frunza managed to do this repeatedly, over several years. Compared to Moldovan violations, the actions that led to the disqualification of Albanian officials look like child’s play.
Editor’s Note: The information concerning financial discrepancies reflects details from the incomplete investigation conducted by the Ministry of Sports prior to its dissolution. Statements are based on correspondence with the Ministry of Sports and contemporaneous documentation reviewed by the author.
Our coaches also remain unaware that the European Athletics Association covered the participation costs for team competitions of up to 50 people (40 athletes and 10 officials). How many coaches “missed out”? How many young, promising athletes could have received a motivating boost to improve, if it weren’t for the silly race for high placements and the President Balan’s victory reports claiming “we beat so-and-so”? That’s a purely rhetorical question! After all, we weren’t competing in the Premier or First League.
Today, our trio of “heroes” seems to think they got away clean — with time passed and the complexity of the matter, everything has been forgotten. At the very least, the results of five championships need to be reviewed — but who cares? Some might say that Andrei Fedotov’s results were insignificant by international standards. True enough, but in 2009, it was precisely thanks to the points he contributed to the team’s tally that Moldova advanced to the Second League, leaving Denmark’s team behind!
These “masterstrokes” have no statute of limitations.