Olympic champion Veronica Stepanova in her column on , she explained why in 2021 she did not accept the offer to sign a contract with the Federation of Tatarstan and play for the national team of this region.
The fifth stage of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Cup will take place in Kazan from January 11 to 14. In July, it became known that Stepanova joined the cross-country ski team of the Arkhangelsk region. The skier previously announced that she would represent the Kamchatka Territory.
— From what I understand, Ilshat Fardiev (head of the cross-country skiing federation of Tatarstan, former deputy prime minister of the republic – Note from ) has a firm policy: he does not seek to have the best ready-made runners. under the flags of Tatarstan. They are interested in development. Frankly: Tatarstan offered me a contract in 2021, but I was not satisfied with two things.
First: financial conditions. A professional athlete has the right to expect better working conditions. The better you run, the more ambition you have, the more rewards – the more demands. Tatarstan has a firm policy: they prefer to raise stars themselves rather than buying ready-made ones. Therefore, only promising juniors are invited and you are unlikely to see the leaders of the national team in green, white and red colors. Until theirs grow up, at least.
Second question: Tatarstan is fundamentally opposed to the practice of so-called “parallel compensation”. This is when athletes represent two regions at once, usually their home region and their new one. I do not want to break ties with Kamchatka, and Kamchatka has the right to receive some points for my performances. Tatarstan has a more professional approach, I admit, “either 100% for us or not at all,” Stepanova wrote.
Watch live broadcasts of the Alfa-Bank Russian Cup races on Match Group TV channels, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.
Source : MatchTV
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