National Team Head Coach Russia in artistic gymnastics Valentina Rodionenko said on that the management of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation (FGSR) had no right to risk the disqualification of the entire organization for admission reasons Ivan Kulyak for the Russian Cup in Kaluga.
The Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF) Disciplinary Commission in May suspended Kulyak for a period of one year for the fact that in March during the World Cup in Doha he participated in the award ceremony in parallel bars competitions with the letter Z on his uniform. On June 7, Kulyak appealed this decision. On July 3, the FSGR announced that Kulyak would not participate in national tournaments organized by the FSGR until the decision of the WEF Appeals Tribunal on the athlete’s request.
– On May 7, Kulyak was disqualified by the disciplinary commission. Besides the fact that he was banned from participating in tournaments under the auspices of FIG, he was also suspended from Russian national tournaments, since our federation is a member of FIG. We do not have the right to risk disqualifying the entire federation. Everything that could be [сделать в этой ситуации], we undertook, – Rodionenko said on the air “There is a subject!” on MatchTV.
Member of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Roman Tereshkov disagreed with Rodionenko’s opinion on the issue of Kulyak’s admission to domestic competitions, calling for the specialist to be removed from work.
– You believe that your federation has not been disqualified, you have a flag, an anthem, athletes participate in international competitions. I believe that after these words the federation should be closed and you should be removed from Russian control. We need to create a new federation that won’t stick a knife in the back of the guys and the country. I’m just discouraged. The situation must be examined by the management of our sport. Our guy showed patriotism, – said Teryushkov.
“The fact is that our federation is under sanctions, like the whole country,” Rodionenko replied. “There are things that need to be resolved through diplomacy. Our FIG members are not disqualified. Don’t speak when you don’t know the true state of things. We cannot risk Vanya being disqualified not for a year, but for a longer period. Vanya trains at boot camp, he is not abandoned. It is not condemned inside the country, but we are within limits which we have no right to disobey.
The Kaluga tournament will take place from July 6 to 10.
Source : MatchTV
