Former head coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Pluschev told that it is impossible to talk about a betrayal of Russia’s interests on the part of a hockey player Alexandra Ovechkina due to his performances abroad.
Earlier, traveler Fedor Konyukhov said in an interview with that he “would not shake hands” with Washington captain Ovechkin, because he treated him badly for his performance in the United States.
“I don’t think the people who are shouting the most about this are patriots.” Our diplomats work on the territory of other states. Families live there. And what? Now we can say they work for someone else? In the past, athletes were ambassadors of peace.
I have known Sasha Ovechkin since childhood, I know his family. To say that he is not a patriot… I would never have thought that in my life. He never refused to play for the Russian national team, treats his native club very carefully and firmly supports the young players of Dynamo. I think Konyukhov’s statement was based on emotions or something else. To make such statements you have to know people a little better.
Alexander is an athlete with a capital A. We cannot say that he betrayed the interests of the country. He gets the money, the contract he deserves. I have never heard him make negative statements about our country. Mr Konyukhov needs to be more careful in his comments, Pliushchev told .
Ovechkin is 38 years old and has played for Washington since 2005. The Russian forward ranks second on the list of top snipers in NHL history with 853 goals, behind Wayne Gretzky (894).
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
