The State Duma is ready to take measures to keep athletes from changing citizenship and escaping from Russia. Now they will have to pay money to be able to represent another country in international competitions. Does the government know something about the potential mass exodus of our athletes or are they launching a preemptive strike?
Prerequisites for tough measures The decision on Russia's participation in the Olympic Games in Paris has not yet been taken, although there is very little time left. Looking at the current uncertainty, some of our athletes are actively exploring options to change nationality. You can talk as much as you like about the correctness of such a step, but this is a given that the leadership of Russian sports is now dealing with.
Over the past year and a half, dozens of our athletes have changed their passports, including world champions and Olympic medalists. The transition to the Georgian national team ended in a scandal for a dancing couple in figure skating Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin, who received money for training from the country's budget, but at the same time they had not performed anywhere for a year and thought only about how to change the country.
The swimmer Anastasia Kirpichinkova, who became a citizen of France and has already stated that this is her real home, did not act very nicely, and also assured that she would try to take as many medals as possible for the French at international competitions. There were even rumors about the 16-year-old tennis player Mirra Andreeva, who charmed everyone at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, but information about her transition to the French flag, fortunately, was not confirmed. At least for now.
What was proposed in the State DumaLooking at the current situation, the government was seriously worried about the possible mass flight of athletes. Perhaps they know much more about this than ordinary fans, so the head of the committee on physical culture and sports, Dmitry Svishchev, made a proposal that should be transformed into a bill.
“Our committee is again considering a bill on compensation to the state for athletes who change sports citizenship. In particular, we are talking about candidates for various national teams. Consultations are now being held with the expert community, our proposals are being studied by lawyers, members of our committee and other interested parties. After such a study, we will propose changes to the legislation,» Svishchev is quoted by Match TV.
In addition, he noted that the state invests a lot of money in the training of athletes, providing the work of coaches, giving funds for training camps, equipment, and medicine. Passport change results in taxpayers' money being wasted, and another country gets a ready-made champion without spending anything on its education.
The topic is certainly very controversial. On the one hand, the athlete has the right to manage his life as he wants. On the other hand, the logic in the idea of the State Duma cannot be denied. After all, it turns out that Russia has been preparing excellent athletes for many years, the results of which will be used by others. Fleeing compensation is indeed a last resort, but perhaps right now it is justified.
Again, it can be assumed that the leadership of our sport has much more information about how many athletes actually want to change citizenship. If there are some scary numbers and many well-known names, then this is just an attempt to stop the process. Let it be straightforward and tough, but, apparently, there is no other way. Moreover, rich athletes will surely have money to pay for this compensation, and they will leave the Russian team anyway. But it will stop many people. Hard times — hard measures.