President of the NOC of Ukraine Vadim Gutzeit admitted that he was surprised by the escape of the 2024 Olympic silver medalist in artistic gymnastics Ilya Kovtun, who applied for Croatian citizenship. The functionary emphasized that the state invested significant resources in training Kovtun from childhood, which allowed him to achieve Olympic success even during the difficult war period for Ukraine.
However, he considers the athlete’s decision to change citizenship during a full-scale war unacceptable. According to Gutzeit, many Ukrainian athletes train abroad, but remain loyal to Ukraine, and changing citizenship during the war is an unworthy act.
“To be honest, I’m upset about this, because it’s absolutely unacceptable to me, because there are many cases of athletes who also train abroad, live abroad, but do not even consider changing their citizenship,” Vadim is quoted as saying. com.
The head of the NOC noted that Ilya Kovtun did not contact him, and negotiations were conducted only with coach Irina Gorbacheva (nee Nadyuk). According to Gutzeit, Ukraine was ready to offer Kovtun and his coach all conditions for training, including improving the base in Koncha-Zaspa or the opportunity to train abroad.
He emphasized that the key is the athlete’s desire to remain Ukrainian, and the existing problems in the Artistic Gymnastics Federation are not an excuse for changing citizenship.
Gutzeit also touched on rumors that Gorbachev is allegedly seeking to take the post of vice-president of the Artistic Gymnastics Federation, but said that this is the first time he has heard about it.
“I haven’t talked to her about the fact that she wants to have a post in the gymnastics federation. There is no such thing here that she wants something, that’s why she doesn’t stay in Ukraine.
Do you want to be Ukrainian or not If you want to change your citizenship, then you don’t want to be Ukrainian. And this is the main message for me during a full-scale war,” concluded Gutzeit.
Earlier, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matvey Bedny expressed disappointment that gymnast Ilya Kovtun applied for Croatian citizenship. The functionary noted that he does not accept the decision of the vice-champion of the 2024 Olympic Games to abandon his home country and team.