‘No place’ for skating star in Ukraine team because of Russia reasons – minister
Figure skater Anastasiia Shabotova was removed from the Ukrainian national team on the eve of the World Championships because she chose to remain in Russia, Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadim Gutzeit has said, adding that anyone who does not condemn Moscow “has no place next to our athletes.”
Shabotova, 16, had been due to represent Ukraine at the skating showpiece in Montpellier, France, but was withdrawn from the team shortly before the event last month.
Initial reports suggested the decision was taken because Shabotova had ‘liked’ an Instagram post by Russian figure skating icon Evgeni Plushenko, in which he said the Russian military action in Ukraine was “an unavoidable special operation.”
Ukrainian minister Gutzeit has now clarified the circumstances of Shabotova’s exit, suggesting there would be no way back into the team for the three-time national champion.
“She was a member of the Ukrainian national team at the Olympic Games [in Beijing], and we saw that she performed well to the music ‘The Little Swallow’, but when the situation started and she stayed in Russia, we expelled her from the Ukrainian national team. That’s it,” Gutzeit was quoted as saying by champion.ua.
The minister added that any Ukrainian athletes who remain in Russia or fail to speak out against Moscow’s actions “have no place” in the national team.
Shabotova was born in Moscow and represented Russia until as recently as 2019, before switching to her mother’s native Ukraine.
After winning the Ukrainian national title in successive years from 2020 to 2022, she represented the country at February’s Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, finishing a creditable seventh in the women’s short program section of the team event.
In the individual competition, Shabotova failed to gain a spot in the final after a disappointing 30th-place finish in the short program.
Shabotova is not the only sporting figure to be sanctioned by Ukraine since the conflict with Russia erupted at the end of February.
National football icon Anatoliy Tymoshchuk – the record appearance-maker for Ukraine in international football – was stripped of a host of accolades and coaching certificates in his homeland after he remained on the training staff at Zenit St. Petersburg.
Tymoshchuk, 43, was accused of “working for the club of the aggressor” and failing to speak out against the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Even before Russian launched its military assault on Ukraine, Gutzeit had warned Ukrainian athletes at the Winter Olympics not to be seen celebrating with Russians or taking photographs with them.
