On May 21-22, the leader of the Ukrainian national gymnastics team, Ilya Kovtun, was supposed to take part in the final of the Italian club championship in the A1 major league in Naples. However, the 18-year-old Ukrainian decided to withdraw from the competition due to the fact that the organizers of the tournament did not remove the Russian gymnasts..

This was announced by the Italian club represented by the Ukrainian - Palestra Ginnastica Ferrara..

" This is a small problem compared to the tragedy of war, death and destruction,"

In a comment to Suspіlna Sport, the coach of the young Ukrainian gymnast Irina Nadyuk confirmed the information that Kovtun withdrew from the final of the Italian club championship due to the fact that the Olympic champion and three-time world champion Russian Artur Dalaloyan was admitted to these competitions.

" We have decided not to participate in these competitions.. Ilya will not compete on the same platform with a representative from Russia,"

It should be noted that earlier the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) banned Russian and Belarusian gymnasts from participating in competitions under its auspices. However, the Italian club championship is held under the patronage of the Italian Gymnastics Federation, which has not yet taken a clear position regarding the removal of Russians and Belarusians.

Now the club of the Ukrainian gymnast without him will be represented at the upcoming competitions, but as a sign of solidarity with Kovtun's decision, he will not be replaced.

“Given the grief, destruction and violence that these people are going through, the idea of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bmeeting on the competition floor with a representative of the country responsible for it all is unbearable.. Especially after what happened on the podium of the World Cup in Doha, which was tarnished by the egregious gesture of the Russian Ivan Kulyak, who everyone remembers and for which he was recently justly punished by the International Gymnastics Federation, "

Recall that 20-year-old Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyak entered the awards ceremony at the World Cup in Doha with the letter " For this shameful act, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) disqualified the Russian athlete for a year, and also deprived him of his bronze medal and prize money..