Two Albanian executives were fired for counterfeiting a brand

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Wednesday that two officials of the Albanian athletics federation were expelled for falsifying an athlete’s results to help him qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

He long jumper Izmir Smajlaj he was cleared of being part of the conspiracy to set a national record in May 2021 that earned him entry to compete at the Tokyo Games.

AIU said Smajlaj, the President of the Albanian Athletics Federation, Gjergj Ruli, and the Secretary General of the Federation, Nikolin Dionisi, “conspired and submitted false air measurement readings” for the athlete’s 8.16-meter jump in Tirana. The jump, which is not legal under athletics rules, earned Smajlaj one of two available “universality” entries – an Olympic wild card awarded to lower-ranked nations – on the 32-man roster for the his proof.

He was the only male athlete from Albania at the Tokyo Olympics, where Ruli traveled as his coach, the AIU said. Smajlaj also competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Dionisi admitted four charges relating to honesty and integrity and was banned for four years, the tartan disciplinary body said. Ruli challenged the charges at a hearing held in Nice, France, where three judges were “comfortably satisfied” of their involvement in the conspiracy.

Ruli’s five-year ban expires in April 2028.

“Federation officials must stand up for fair play and fair sport, and we will hold them accountable if the evidence proves otherwise,” Athletics Integrity Unit president David Howman.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Smajlaj was 17th in qualifying with a jump of 7.86 meters and did not advance to the final. The provisional suspension of the 30-year-old athlete has been lifted.