New York (AFP)
Russian hockey player Artemi Panarin has withdrawn from the New York Rangers after being accused of assault by a former coach, allegations "fabricated" according to his club to make him pay for his support for opponent Alexei Navalny.
In an article published on Saturday by the Russian newspaper Komsomlskaya Pravda, the left winger of the North American Professional Hockey League NHL is accused by one of his former coaches in Russia of assaulting a woman in 2011.
"Fabricated" allegations that the 29-year-old "strongly and unequivocally denies," the New York Rangers said in a message posted on Twitter Monday.
"This is clearly an intimidating maneuver aimed at him for having publicly mentioned recent political events," the club continued.
At the end of January, Artemi Panarin posted a photo of Alexei Navalny on his Instagram account, asking for the release of the Russian opponent, who is currently serving a sentence of two years and eight months in prison for not respecting the conditions of his parole.
Many critics have denounced an instrumentalisation of justice by the Russian executive power against Alexei Navalny, who had been the victim of an attempted poisoning which nearly cost him his life, last August.
In the interview he gave to Komsomlskaya Pravda, the former player and coach Andrei Nazarov, in addition to his accusations, sharply criticizes the public positions of Artemi Panarin against the Russian government.
In July 2019, the player called on Vladimir Putin to leave power and denounced the absence of the rule of law in Russia.
Rangers "will work with Artemi to identify the source of these unfounded allegations," the club said.
For the time being, "Artemi is obviously disturbed, concerned and will withdraw from the team" until further notice, the Rangers said.
Arrived in NHL in 2015, Artemi Panarin is today one of the stars.
He won the Calder Trophy for Best Newbie in 2016 and was selected twice for the All-Star Game.
© 2021 AFP