“It’s not even a shame, but a laughingstock”: FINA removed Rylov from the competition for participating in a rally-concert in Luzhniki

"Compromised the image of swimming"

The Bureau of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) suspended two-time Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov from participating in competitions under its auspices for nine months.

The reason for this decision, as stated in the official release, was the participation of the athlete in a concert in honor of the Day of the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with the Russian Federation, which took place on March 18 at the Luzhniki stadium.

The punishment came into force on April 20 and applies, among other things, to the national championship, the press service of the organization reported.

Also, due to the situation in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian swimmers will not be invited to FINA competitions until the end of 2022.

This is said to be done in the name of "protecting the events and the welfare of the athletes."

According to sports lawyer Anna Antseliovich, when punishing Rylov, the international federation focused on the fact that the athlete jeopardized the image of swimming and the organization itself, and therefore violated the constitution and the FINA code of conduct.

“The position on their part was as follows: a rally dedicated to the referendum in Crimea is participation in a political event in support of the military operation in Ukraine.

FINA accused, and the disciplinary commission supported them, that it was a violation of the constitution, ”the specialist explained in a comment to Match TV.

The decision can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days.

At the same time, Rylov has not yet decided on further steps.

The athlete only noted that the lawyers began to work with the documents received.

“We are carefully studying the essence of the case and the claims against me.

Will I appeal?

We will see.

We are working on this, so far without comment, ”Sport-Express quotes the swimmer.

However, the coach of the two-time Olympic champion Andrey Shishin believes that it is not worth wasting strength and energy on resolving issues in court.

“I think that we will cope with this, nine months is not such a long time, it can be passed without heavy losses.

We continue training, so we will see Evgeny in the sports arena.

I think that we will not challenge the decision, because in general Russia was suspended for the same period, ”the specialist said in an interview with TASS.

“It turns out that what is possible for others is impossible for Russians”

The world champion in rapid chess and blitz Sergey Karyakin noted the similarity of his punishment by FIDE with the sanctions against Rylov.

In his opinion, this is a deliberate policy of international federations against domestic athletes.

“If you are a Russian, this is already a minus, because the whole team may simply not be allowed.

And if you also somehow act as a united front with your people, this will doubly go to your disadvantage in terms of sports.

You are simply suspended, my example is the same, in fact.

Time is not important here.

It's a shame that you are suspended for your position.

Although you did not call anyone to kill or do something bad.

You just supported your country, and for this you are suspended.

It is very unpleasant, but they have such a policy,” said Karyakin.

The Kremlin also reacted to the punishment of Rylov.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the pernicious line on the politicization of sports is continuing.

“First our tennis players, now the swimming federation.

We believe that this is absolutely contrary to the idea of ​​sport.

Ultimately, this harms international federations, international competitions, when the strongest do not get the opportunity to participate in them.

And I repeat once again: now it is very important for our athletes to continue to work on themselves, to stay in shape in order to continue to be the best, ”Peskov said.

The President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov called the decision of FINA a laughingstock.

According to him, international sport has not only ceased to be outside of politics, but has turned into it itself.

“And the further this painful process develops, the more it influences the decisions and actions of individual colleagues in international federations.

To suspend an athlete for nine months for participating in a concert is not even a shame, but a laughing stock.

We are waiting for consistency from the ISF (international sports federations. -

) in the form of similar measures in relation to all other athletes from different countries, who in one way or another have indicated their position on current events.

In the meantime, there is open discrimination based on nationality, a violation of the basic rights of an athlete and a person, ”Pozdnyakov wrote on his Telegram channel.

State Duma deputy Irina Rodnina even expressed the opinion that international organizations, by removing Russian athletes, are trying to get around each other in terms of the number of stupid things they have done.

“They compete to see who will make the most loud, as it seems to them, statements.

It's just that any federations are run by people.

Naturally, each person has his own views, there is pressure that is exerted on him.

As you can see for yourself, they operate without rules.

Absolutely.

Once again, we are being shown that sport is part of political ideas and views,” said Rodnina.

According to the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Dmitry Svishchev, the removal of Rylov is unacceptable, since he did not violate anything.

"For what?

Because we don't think the way they do?

Because our athletes have their heads on their shoulders?

What did Rylov do to them?

Did he participate in combat events or violated the sports code?

Maybe our swimmer used illegal drugs?

No.

He just thinks differently.

And most importantly, support your country!

There have never been such precedents before.

Never.

It turns out that what is possible for others is impossible for Russians.

Now just such a trend has begun, ”the deputy admitted in a conversation with Sport24.

Olympic champion Svetlana Zhurova, in turn, was surprised at the length of the suspension.

In her opinion, five minutes on stage is too much.

“For serious doping, there can be such a punishment.

Sorry, but this is a slight inadequacy.

I want an investigation into whether this happened with Kosovo and Serbia?

I would like to clarify what sanctions were applied to them, because it was a long time ago and many have already forgotten, ”said the deputy of the State Duma.