Former coach of the Russian national basketball team Grudin called the absence of the flag and anthem a great loss

Former women’s head coach Russian national team basketball Igor Grudin in an interview with , he said that he considered the absence of the national flag and the national anthem during international competitions as a great loss for the national sport.

Russian basketball clubs have been suspended from participating in international tournaments due to the situation in Ukraine.

— You have just worked in those years when any place other than the first was not considered the best. Today, in football, as in other sports, we don’t know exactly what to strive for once we return. How do you think the current generation of coaches can face this uncertain future? How to tune athletes?

— I watch basketball. The last season of the VTB United League was incredible, the playoffs were very interesting and the finals surpassed the Euroleague matches in terms of intensity and intrigue. But overall, the situation is extremely difficult, especially at the national team level. Clubs have a national championship, the possibility of playing a tournament, but not in Europe, but in another region. But at the national team level, it is difficult to motivate the players, and they understand that they have nothing to prepare.

When it was necessary to win the European and World Championships, to go to the Olympic Games and succeed there, it was a celebration. However, athletes have been deprived of all this for several years. And there is no question of admission to team sports at all. They are only allowed to perform in individual competitions, and even without a flag or anthem.

We brought up people in patriotism, so that we played for a reason, not for bonuses, nor for Aunt Masha and Uncle Pasha, but for the Motherland. And the Fatherland is an anthem and a flag. And when without all this it turns out that you have only a commercial tournament. If you have a sponsor, if you succeed, you will receive rewards. That’s all.

The absence of the flag and the anthem is a very big loss, because while working in the national team, when the anthem was played, I saw goosebumps and tears in the eyes of the girls . And when the results were announced in the morning at the Olympic Village during the awards ceremony, everyone congratulated and rejoiced. It’s really a family, a source of pride for the country. There you will remember everything: the dead, the living, grandparents and everyone in between.

However, despite all the difficulties, we must continue to love our sport, believe in good things and develop it,” Grudin told .

Grudin led the women’s national team from 1994 to 1995 and from 2004 to 2008. Under his leadership, the Russian team won gold, silver and bronze at the European Championships, became second at the Championships of world of 2006 and also won bronze medals at the 2008 Olympics. Grudin ended his coaching career in 2009. Currently, the 78-year-old specialist lives in France, where he is being treated for cancer.