“I can’t be silent anymore”: Tatalina in an open letter accused the FFR of extorting prize money and disrupting preparations for the Olympic Games

Anastasia Tatalina's open letter was a real bolt from the blue.

The 21-year-old Novosibirsk native is one of the top freestyle stars in the country, and last year won gold at the Big Air World Championships.

They expected medals from her at the Beijing Olympics.

However, the athlete failed to climb the podium.

In the profile big air, due to an injury, she took only tenth place, and in the slope style she took an offensive fourth position.

A month and a half after the end of the Olympic Games, the girl made harsh accusations against the Russian Freestyle Federation and the coaching staff of the national team.

In a letter to the Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin, she reproached the FFR for disrupting preparations for the Olympics.

“The break between the fees ranged from two weeks to a month.

For comparison: my rivals had 80 training days on snow and 80-90 days on an air cushion.

They started training already in May, and since July they have been practicing continuously, alternating an air cushion with a snow springboard.

At the time of the beginning of the performance at the Olympic Games, I performed my program on the snow springboard for the last time ... in November.

2.5 months before entering the main start of the four-year period, ”complained Tatalina.

However, the most severe accusation concerned the financial issue.

Allegedly, after winning the 2021 World Cup, the head coach of the national team Nikita Vasiliev demanded 50% of the prize money “for the needs of the federation”, citing some kind of unspoken rule.

The freestyler, according to her, refused to pay and attracted her parents to the conflict.

Its result was a complete boycott of the athlete.

“All communication with me was stopped on the official website of the federation and on social networks, starting from 2021 there is not a single mention of me.

Not even a single photo.

Like I don't exist.

It got to the point that, being at the training camp, the team was photographed without me.

There was no support from the federation either before or after the Olympics, and there is none, ”the girl said.

She also reproached FFR President Alexei Kurashov for being persuaded to sign an agreement on the eve of the 2018 Olympics, according to which she refused personal sponsorship.

“Several companies showed interest in me.

But the FFR gave them the condition to finance the entire team.

In such situations, they refused.

So the federation deprived me of the opportunity to develop and progress for four years, the contract will end only in May 2022, ”said Tatalina.

She also complained about poor working conditions and insufficient funding for new school disciplines.

Allegedly, since 2018, the team has not even had a doctor, and during trips to competitions in Europe, she and her teammate have to sleep in the same bed in order to save money.

Finally, she accused the head coach of the Vasiliev team of humiliating and devaluing her achievements.

Supported the athlete by her mother

Oksana Tatalina.

She claims that the specialist's relationship with her daughter and other wards was familiar.

He allowed himself insults and constantly used obscene language.

But the words about harassment were much more serious.

“Dirty jokes, offers of an intimate nature on the part of Vasilyev, especially in the 2019 season, caused a serious injury to Anastasia.

Starting from the start of the season, all the attention of the headquarters turned out to be riveted to the appearance of Anastasia.

They believed that she was overweight, not the forms that they would like to see.

Vasiliev set up teammates, they spread false information about Anastasia, ”the woman said in an interview with Sport-Express.

In the FFR, the open letter from the world champion caused bewilderment.

The head of the organization, Kurashov, called all the facts stated in it a lie.

So, according to him, there is no unspoken rule in the national team about the alienation of part of the prize money and no one requires money from the athletes.

“I am actually surprised and interested in why she decided to publish this letter in an open form.

Nastya was always met halfway, there was increased attention to her, we never took out a violation of discipline, non-team behavior, including at the Olympic Games.

It’s not that unworthy to talk about a boycott, it’s just not true, ”Match TV quotes the functionary.

Vasiliev also denied accusations of extortion of money.

According to him, the coaching staff did everything to make Tatalina successful, and sometimes even placed more emphasis on her than on other freestylers.

“After the World Cup, where Nastya won, she put on a crown and changed her attitude towards us.

Despite all this, we have completed our work in full.

We have done everything, in the last two years we have done even more.

We invested our own money in it, and such comments are very offensive.

They invested their time, their lives in it.

Her relationship with her teammates deteriorated.

Anastasia stopped communicating with the guys on an equal footing, ”the specialist assured.

But Evgeny Serov, Tatalina's personal trainer, on the contrary, supported the athlete.

He noted that the federation has not been working properly for a long time, and there is no unity inside.

“Before, there was a team of like-minded people, where everyone supported each other.

Now teams work for themselves.

We see isolation and closeness.

There is no point in lying to Nastya.

She is well aware of the consequences that await her.

She did too much for the country, and this year they just took away her medal, ”complained the specialist.

In his opinion, the FFR does not do enough to develop freestyle in Russia, and athletes achieve success not because of, but in spite of, due to the high level of skill.

“Nastya was well aware that everything around her would put pressure on her.

But she is a very young person.

But she did not get into the national team for her beautiful eyes.

She put her health for it.

We are all together with Nastya.

The federation is interested in her leaving now with a scandal.

To discourage others from opening their mouths, ”added Serov.

The Ministry of Sports has not yet responded to Tatalina's open letter.

But the State Duma promised to consider all the accusations set out in it.

At the same time, deputy Dmitry Svishchev, who is a member of the FFR presidium, noted that Kurashov rejected all of them in a conversation with him.

“The world champion reproaches the leadership of the federation and the coaching staff for quite serious violations.

It is worth creating a special commission that will consider all the points and make a definite decision.

The Ministry of Sports also needs to pay attention to what happened and respond.

There, the scandal will not be ignored and everything will be found out, ”the deputy promised in an interview with RT.

And the two-time Olympic medalist in freestyle skiing, Elizaveta Kozhevnikova, saw the root of the conflict in financial matters.

In her opinion, it has been rising in various forms in Russia in one way or another since the collapse of the USSR.

“Here we can recall the departure of the first hockey players to the NHL or the struggle of tennis players for their money, when they retrained from Soviet amateurs into ATP and WTA players.

This story repeats itself periodically.

Now the guys withstand huge loads, and they want to understand why they are doing it and how much money will remain in the bank account.

Hence the dissatisfaction with Tatalina.

Did Anastasia have the right to make such statements?

If it's not forbidden, then why not?

She is not a slave and can speak out, ”Kozhevnikova emphasized in a comment to RT.

At the same time, she called the situation twofold.

On the one hand, athletes must remember that the state has invested in their development.

On the other hand, athletes are not required to give away part of the prize money.

“When people do not pay for training, and then write letters and ask them to give them everything they earn, it looks strange to say the least.

But the opposite is also true ... Now 99% of Russian athletes have lost the opportunity to compete in international competitions.

In fact, they were left with nothing.

People simply cannot transfer to a regular salary that would allow them to live.

The only source of income for them is the prize money,” added Kozhevnikova.