Assessments of the Averins, the flight of Timanovskaya and the conflict between Guberniev and Buzova: the main sports scandals of 2021

Dina Averina was left without a gold medal at the Olympic Games due to a controversial decision of the judges, and athlete Kristina Timanovskaya escaped from the national team of Belarus. Zarema Salikhova got into a skirmish on Telegram with sports director Dmitry Popov, who was fired from Spartak, and the police detained about 400 fans after the RPL match between CSKA and Zenit. Skier Alexander Bolshunov knocked down Yoni Myaki at the finish line, and Tatyana Tarasova spoke harshly about Yana Rudkovskaya and doubted the sports potential of her son. The main sports scandals of 2021 are in the RT material.

Incidents with the flags of Russia and Belarus

The Olympic Games in Tokyo could not do without scandals.

Unfortunately, one of the loudest happened with Russian gymnasts Dina and Arina Averin.

No one had any doubts that they would rise to the highest step of the podium, because domestic athletes have not given anyone the gold of their personal all-around at the Olympic Games since 1996.

However, in Japan, Irina Viner-Usmanova's wards suffered an offensive defeat.

Israeli Lina Ashram sensationally took first place, while Dina remained second.

After the end of the performances, she did not hide her tears and indignation.

And the ROC filed an official protest against the results of the tournament.

But the estimates were not revised.

Moreover, the next day, the Russians were defeated in the team all-around, giving way to Bulgaria.

Despite the unfortunate failure at home, the Averin sisters were greeted as triumphants.

As winners of the Olympic Games, the athletes received cars: Dina - BMW X5 on a par with the champions, and Arina, who did not make it into the top three, - BMW X3, as silver and bronze medalists.

Not everyone accepted and understood this gesture.

For example, Arthur Dalaloyan, who won gold in team exercises in artistic gymnastics, considered such a decision unfair "towards those who ... did not get into the prize-winners, but remained unnoticed."

The athlete was criticized by the sports community, although there were those who supported him.

Viner-Usmanova spoke harshly of all, calling Dalaloyan an idiot.

It was much more difficult for the Ukrainian athlete Yaroslav Maguchikh. At home, she was persecuted just for a joint photo with Maria Lasitskene. In Tokyo, they competed in the high jump sector and together rose to the podium: the Russian woman got gold, and her 19-year-old competitor won silver. As a result, the athlete was even summoned for a conversation at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Maguchikh had to make excuses and explain that she was just paying tribute to her opponent in accordance with Olympic traditions.

Therefore, I was not at all surprised by the refusal of the Ukrainian athlete Igor Tsvetov to be photographed with the Russians Dmitry Safronov and Artyom Kalashyan on the podium during the Paralympics.

The sprinter defiantly stepped aside from his colleagues.

In the IPC and RPC, the athlete's behavior was explained by the intention to comply with strict coronavirus restrictions, but he himself wrote on Facebook about his desire to "show respect for his country."

However, the loudest scandal during the Olympic Games was the flight of the athlete Kristina Timanovskaya from the location of the Belarusian national team.

The reason for the conflict between the girl and the leadership of the delegation was her unwillingness to participate in the relay race at non-core 400 meters.

After that, the sprinter was removed from a distance of 200 m and decided to send home.

Already at the airport, the athlete recorded a video message, asking for help from the International Olympic Committee. According to the runner, they were going to send her home by force. She feared that she might even be imprisoned there. As a result, the IOC took control of the matter, and Timanovskaya remained in Japan. Later, Christina received a residence permit in Poland.

Unfortunately, this is not the only scandal in which Belarusian athletes were involved in 2021. Even before the start of the Olympic Games, an unpleasant incident occurred at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Latvia. Right in the course of the tournament, Riga Mayor Martins Stakis and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevich in the center of the city, where the flags of all participating countries were located, replaced the official canvas of the neighbors with the opposition white-red-white. This happened the next day after an emergency landing in Minsk of a Ryanair airline, which was following the Athens-Vilnius route.

And during the match for the title of world champion in drafts, the flag of Russia was already damaged.

In the midst of the fourth game between Tamara Tansykkuzhina and the Polish woman Natalia Sadovskaya, the former head of the European Drafts Federation Jacek Pawlicki removed a small Russian flag from the table and tore off a sticker with a domestic tricolor.

Later, he explained his actions by the order of the head of WADA Witold Banka, who threatened the organizers with sanctions.

In response, the vice-president of the Russian Drafts Federation Yuri Chertok called the incident "a direct violation of the regulations."

But this did not affect Tansykkuzhina herself.

Although she was defeated in the indicated game, she defended her title and became the best on the planet for the seventh time.

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© Alexey Filippov

The disappearance of a tennis player in China

The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing have not yet begun, but have already acquired an aura of scandal.

Local tennis player Peng Shuai has mysteriously disappeared.

The girl, ranked in the fourth hundred of the WTA rankings, went missing after she accused former high-ranking official Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault on social media.

Later, the post was deleted, and she herself stopped communicating.

Almost three weeks later, Shuai was found and talked to IOC President Thomas Bach.

During the conversation, the tennis player thanked for the caring attitude, but asked to respect privacy and assured that she was safe in her home in Beijing.

Crimea on the uniform of the national team of Ukraine

There were enough scandals in the outgoing year in football. So, a few days before the start of Euro 2020 in Russia, it was not the tournament itself that was discussed more, but the uniform of the Ukrainian national team. Neighbors have placed on T-shirts the outlines of the country, which includes the Crimean peninsula, as well as the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. They did not stop there and announced the phrase "Glory to Ukraine!" and "Glory to the Heroes!" the official slogans of the team at the continental championship. True, the latter had to be removed from the equipment, since UEFA regarded it as having political overtones and carrying a militaristic meaning.

And in the RPL, Spartak has traditionally become the main supplier of scandals. 2021 turned out to be turbulent for the club again. What are at least two coach replacements in a year. But most of all, the fans remembered the skirmish between Zarema Salikhova and Dmitry Popov on Telegram. The wife of Leonid Fedun, who officially does not hold any posts in the club and left the board of directors, has been publishing various incriminating evidence on the Telegram channel for two months. After resignation from the post of sports director, Popov decided to answer her. He accused Salikhova of interfering in the internal affairs of the red and white and choosing a new mentor, taking into account the signs of the zodiac. The exchange of tough posts ended with the removal of Salikhova's own channel.

The year ended with an unpleasant incident at the RPL round 16 match between CSKA and Zenit. During the meeting, army fans lit pyrotechnics. In response, the police blocked the sector in question and detained all 400 people who were there. CCTV cameras could help law enforcement agencies arrest citizens who directly violated the law, but they did not work. As a result, the court fined CSKA for violation of security rules 100 thousand rubles. And the State Duma in mid-December passed a law introducing a FAN ID for fans.

On the European arena, 2021 was remembered for an unsuccessful attempt to make a "revolution" from the creators of the Super League.

In April, the organizers of a large-scale competition announced the launch of a project with the participation of 12 top clubs from England, Spain and Italy.

However, it lasted only a couple of days.

At first, under pressure from fans and UEFA, the British giants announced their rejection.

Then their example was followed by "Atlético", "Milan" and "Inter".

Until recently, only Real, Barcelona and Juventus held out.

The president of Madrid and the Super League, Florentino Perez, had to announce that the tournament was "on hold."

Applications for Bolshunov in Finland

In cross-country skiing, the rivalry of Alexander Bolshunov with foreign competitors attracted attention.

It reached its climax in January at the World Cup in Lahti.

At the finish of the relay, Yoni Mäki cut him off, deliberately hitting the ski.

The Russian could not restrain himself and swung at his opponent with a stick, and then knocked him down with a hockey power move.

The judges considered the domestic athlete wrong in the current situation and disqualified him.

So, all four were left without bronze medals.

The story did not end there.

A couple of days later, it became known that Bolshunov had been filed with the Finnish police on suspicion of an attack.

To the credit of the world champion, he apologized to his vis-a-vis, and such conflicts did not happen again.

And the trial never took place.

Skirmish Guberniev and Buzova

In biathlon in 2021, there was not a single notable scandal. However, the voice of this sport, Dmitry Guberniev, was marked by a skirmish with Olga Buzova. The singer was invited to the studio of the Match TV channel during Euro 2020 after the defeat of Russia by Belgium. She supported the domestic team and urged not to criticize it.

But the journalist literally blew up the airwaves, connecting from St. Petersburg.

To begin with, he asked which football school is closer to the girl, Russian or Soviet, while listing the names of famous directors and actors, and then asked Buzova if she stopped drinking cognac in the morning, citing Astrid Lindgren's "Kid and Carlson".

After that, Olga could not hold back her emotions and burst into tears.

Later, she accused the presenter of unprofessionalism and cowardice.

The conflict ended with an apology from Guberniev, but the whole country was discussing what happened for several days.

Accusation of beating against Panarin

One of the leading Russian hockey players, Artemy Panarin, also got into a serious scandal.

In February, the striker's former coach Andrei Nazarov accused him of beating a girl.

Allegedly, a drunk young man in December 2011, still playing for Vityaz, after an away KHL match with Riga Dynamo in a bar attacked an 18-year-old citizen of Latvia and stabbed her several times.

The “respected residents of Riga” helped the athlete to avoid arrest and a real prison term.

Panarin denied all charges, although he was forced to miss several NHL meetings.

Supported the striker and his club New York Rangers, who called the specialist's story "fabricated."

Fortunately, she did not receive any continuation, and Artemy continued to calmly go out on the ice.

Jan's defeat in the USA

Despite the refusal from alcohol, Alexander Emelianenko remained the main supplier of news in Russian MMA. In December, he entered into a tough correspondence skirmish with Eagle FC fighter Artur Huseynov. The 40-year-old athlete said that while competing for one team, a partner often asked him for a double fee, citing family problems. Emelianenko also called his colleague a "Dagestan pig" and promised to wait for him in Moscow. Huseynov, in response, ridiculed Alexander for the defeat from Marcio Santos and expressed his readiness to fight him if he received at least 5 million rubles. It is not excluded that next year the parties will actually resolve their conflict in the "cage".

The 2021st in the world's leading UFC promotion will be remembered for the most offensive defeat of Peter Yan by Aljamein Sterling.

The Russian had a clear advantage, but in the fourth round he inflicted a forbidden knee blow to the head in a prone position.

A native of Yekaterinburg was disqualified and deprived of the bantamweight champion belt.

But many suspected the US representative of the simulation, since he did not even try to get back on his feet and continue the fight.

The fighters immediately announced their desire to hold a revenge, but it never took place.

The opponents were supposed to clash in October at UFC 267, but the American refused to fight, citing a neck injury.

At the same time, in social networks, he repeatedly promised to beat Yan.

In response, he accused him of cowardice.

Controversial decision of judges in Japan

Another major scandal involving a Russian athlete broke out during the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu.

Angelina Melnikova was less than 0.1 points ahead of the tournament hostess and main rival Mai Murakami during the floor exercises and had to take gold.

However, she filed a protest and, having received additional points, snatched the victory.

The Olympic champion, who demonstrated an ideal performance, responded in kind, but the referees did not even accept her complaint and left the assessment unchanged.

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Tarasova vs. Plushenko and Rudkovskaya

Traditionally, Russian figure skating was also uneasy, although 2021 turned out to be not as rich in conflicts as the previous one.

Nevertheless, it was not completely without them.

What is at least a dispute between Tatyana Tarasova and Yana Rudkovskaya.

The renowned specialist emphasized that it is incorrect to compare Evgeni Plushenko and Eteri Tutberidze.

In her opinion, it was the wife who spoiled a lot in her husband's starting coaching career.

Tarasova also admitted that she "does not really see" the potential in the son of the couple, Sasha.

In response, the well-known producer urged the specialist not to discuss what was happening in her family and "not to touch the child."

“I will always stand up for my family and my children, no matter who my opponent is.

Regardless of his merits, status and other regalia.

Even such people need to think about what and about whom they are talking, especially if it concerns children's feelings and experiences, ”Rudkovskaya wrote on Instagram.

Olympic champion Alina Zagitova also got into a couple of unpleasant stories.

In October, she got into a skirmish with journalist Rustam Imamov.

The former skater was unhappy with the fact that they tried to photograph her during the KHL match between Ak Bars and Magnitogorsk Metallurg, and after the final siren, she allegedly demanded to remove all frames, threatening connections.

A little earlier, the girl was touched by the director of "Sambo-70" Renat Laishev.

The choice of Evgenia Medvedeva, and not Zagitova, as the host of the concert dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the school, he explained by the fact that the former has "better diction", since she is a Muscovite.

Alina's fans harshly criticized the man, and the girl herself posted on Instagram a video of her lesson on rhetoric, accompanying it with the signature: “Working on a“ Moscow ”speech."

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Dubov's "betrayal" in the World Cup final

The match for the world chess crown was not without a scandal.

Ian Nepomniachtchi could not compete with the reigning champion Magnus Carlsen - 3.5: 7.5.

However, at home, it was not the result of the meeting itself that aroused an active discussion, but the help of the domestic grandmaster Daniil Dubov to the Norwegian.

The 25-year-old was part of the Scandinavian team in Dubai.

Upon learning of this, many criticized Dubov at home.

In particular, another former contender for the title of the strongest chess player on the planet, Sergei Karjakin, stressed that he would never agree to such a role.

And according to grandmaster Sergei Shipov, by his act Daniil "threw the seeds of discord into the national team."

Dubov himself did not see anything terrible in him and urged not to look at his cooperation with Carlsen in the context of “ours and foes”.