Wrestling Federation of Ukraine did not give permission to change sports citizenship
Coach of the Ukrainian team in Greco-Roman wrestling Vladimir Shatskikh confirmed that the Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler Semyon Novikov is carrying out the procedure for changing citizenship.
“The act that he committed, let it remain on his conscience. The national team of Ukraine and the state represented by Minister of Sports Vadim Gutsait, President of the NOC Serhiy Bubka, the leadership of our federation and I personally did everything to ensure that he stayed in Ukraine. He was provided with everything he needed. All his needs were met: money, housing.
It’s his decision, his choice. Maybe it’s for the best that he moved to play for Bulgaria. If a person changes citizenship so easily, then something is wrong with him.”
“He will play for Bulgaria, but so far he does not have this opportunity, because our association and federation do not give permission for the transition. After all, we value our athletes and do not let go just like that, we fight for them. This is also done so that other athletes do not think that they can simply turn around and leave. When the state invested money and strength in you.”
Last year, Novikov denied the information about the change of citizenship. At the same time, he doubted whether he would remain in the Ukrainian national team.
Note that Semyon Novikov was supposed to compete at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade. However, he did not make it to the final application, and Andrey Antonyuk took part in the competition instead.
At the 2022 World Championship, the Ukrainian wrestling team won a total of six awards. Two of them were won by Greco-Roman wrestlers: Andrei Kulik (up to 72 kg) and Yaroslav Filchakov (up to 82 kg) won bronze medals in Belgrade.
Source: Sportarena
