As is known, recently the president of the NOC of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, decided to leave his post and, in accordance with the Statute of the NOC of Ukraine, initiated the convening of an extraordinary General Assembly at which his re-election will take place on June 23. \n \nYanukovych explained his decision by the fact that, due to political pressure on him, he cannot work fruitfully and bring benefit to Ukrainian sport. \n \nFour candidates who registered by June 9 are vying for the orphaned chair of the chief Olympian of Ukraine. True, only two of them are the most realistic, and even those with caveats. \n \nSo, we present them. Candidate number one – Serhiy Bubka (member of the IOC Executive Board, member of the Executive Committee of the NOC of Ukraine, multiple record holder and world champion in pole vault). \n \nBubka, who is also a comrade-in-arms of Yanukovych in the "Regions of Ukraine" party, was immediately nominated by 14 associated members of the NOC of Ukraine (the Association of Sports Journalists of Ukraine; the Tennis Federation of Ukraine; the Handball Federation of Ukraine; the Cycling Federation of Ukraine; the "Spartak" Physical Culture and Sports Society; the Association of Olympians of Ukraine; the "Ukraine" Physical Culture and Sports Society; the Fencing Federation of Ukraine; the Skiing Federation of Ukraine; the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation; the Biathlon Federation of Ukraine; the Basketball Federation of Ukraine; the Field Hockey Federation of Ukraine; the Committee for Physical Education and Sport of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine). \n \nIn Bubka's favor is the fact that he is an IOC member and an outstanding athlete in the past. One of Bubka's main drawbacks may be the fact that he had very close ties with his fellow countryman Yanukovych, which may not please the new authorities. \n \nBubka's main rival in this confrontation may be the Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meters, IOC member Valeriy Borzov, who was nominated by the Athletics Federation of Ukraine. Although the confrontation between Bubka and Borzov is all relative. Given today's realities and the fact that Borzov belongs to the political faction of the SDPU(o), it is quite likely that he will be asked to withdraw his candidacy due to close friendly ties with the "regions." Painful as it is, sport continues to depend on politics further on. \n \nAbout the other two candidates for the post of NOC president, one can mention only conditionally, since they have been playing the role of "wedding generals" for more than a year now. \n \nNumber three is Ivan Fedorenko – first vice-president of the NOC of Ukraine, nominated by the Canoe Federation of Ukraine. In 2002, Fedorenko was delegated by the wrestling association. \n \nAnother traditional also-ran candidate for the place of "lord of the rings" is Mykola Martsenyuk – member of the Executive Committee of the NOC of Ukraine, vice-president of the Baseball and Softball Federation of Ukraine (on the nomination of the Baseball and Softball Federation of Ukraine). \n\nThe sports that Martsenyuk represents speak eloquently for themselves about the seriousness of his intentions (no offense to baseball and softball players). \n \nAll the above-mentioned realities suggest the thought that the election of the new NOC president may become a repeat of the farce of three years ago. \n\nThen, there were also four candidates for the post of president of the NOC of Ukraine. Among them were the familiar Fedorenko, Martsenyuk, Borzov and also Pysarenko (president of the weightlifting federation). \n\nThe whole staging of Yanukovych's "transparent" elections began with the fact that first Fedorenko withdrew his candidacy in favor of the then prime minister of Ukraine. Then Martsenyuk, Pysarenko and Borzov were given the go-ahead to withdraw… \n\nAs a result, the 14th assembly of the NOC of Ukraine unanimously elected Viktor Yanukovych as president of the NOC of Ukraine. It seems that in a few weeks a forecast can also be made regarding the new head of the NOC of Ukraine. His surname is Bubka. \n \nI have nothing personally against Serhiy Bubka. True, one would like the president of the NOC of Ukraine to be, first of all, a person who will defend the interests not only of a few sports, but of sport in general. All the more so since the Winter Olympic Games in Turin are just around the corner… \n\nAnd one more thing. One would like our elections among sports officials to finally become REAL elections in the full sense of the word. In our country, in the vast majority of cases, the word "elections" is merely a set of letters and sounds... \n \n \nMykyta Malynskyi