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On Friday, the International Cycling Union (UCI) confirmed that Russian athletes to participate in At the cycling world championship in Glasgow in a neutral status, it is necessary to sign an additional declaration, which the UK government requires from all athletes from Russia and Belarus who want to compete in major sports competitions in the Foggy Albion. The correspondent talks about what those who refused to agree to such conditions have lost, and what those who have agreed have gained. Or maybe the other way around.
The fact that Russian cyclists will not go to the World Championships in Glasgow, said coach Alexander Kuznetsov. «The paper that the British gave to sign is impossible to sign,» he admitted in an interview with Sport-Express. «There are exorbitant demands. Let's say one of the requirements is the lack of full connection with the state. How can this be? Everyone is on a scholarship from the Ministry of Sports. How can they not have a connection with the state?» and «all that is unreal for us».
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«It was clear to us from the very beginning that the British did not intend to let anyone in: they would do everything possible that there would be no visas, nothing. Therefore, they knew for a long time that the road to the World Championships was closed,» the coach emphasized.
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«This applies to all Russian and Belarusian athletes who want to compete in the territory of this country,» the UCI said. «At the moment, only one athlete has registered to participate in the World Championships in a neutral status.»
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«British visas cannot be processed in a short time,» he said, adding that the International Cycling Union itself does not require any political statements from athletes. «In cycling, no one imposes such declarations, and even more so no one signs.» Thanks to the International Cycling Union, now it's officially confirmed.What have the Russian athletes lost who will not be able to compete at the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow? It is very simple to formulate — the chances of going to the Olympic Games in Paris. «There is no chance at all to get there,» confessed the head coach of the Russian national team, Sergey Kovpanets.Here you can recall the recent events when the Wimbledon tennis tournament was held in London. All the leading Russian athletes participated in it — and not without success. Daniil Medvedev reached the semi-finals, Andrei Rublev and Roman Safiullin reached the quarter-finals, and Mirra Andreeva captivated the audience with youthful enthusiasm, reaching the fourth round. In general, we can say that Wimbledon left those fans who followed him and supported the Russians with a very pleasant aftertaste.
However, frankly speaking, it becomes bitter if we compare the facts and realize that Russian tennis players signed the very theses for participation in Wimbledon, which, as the coaches say, it never even occurred to Russian cyclists to sign. The UCI has confirmed that without this it will not be possible to enter the UK to participate in a major sporting event, and Wimbledon, with all due respect to the World Cycling Championships, is a more significant event.Around the end of April, journalist Viktor Kravchenko, who, judging by his social networks, communicates with Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina, posted on his Telegram channel a screenshot of an official letter that Russian and Belarusian Wimbledon participants were supposed to sign. Its main theses are as follows — the athlete agrees that he does not participate in the tournament as a representative of his state and does not receive funding from his state, signs that he will not express support for the NWO or the Russian or Belarusian governments, and also will not wear symbols, flags or emblems that would indicate support for the NWO or the governments of Russia or Belarus.
None of the officials confirmed the authenticity of this letter at the time. It is also impossible to say that this is the same declaration that the cyclists refused to sign, because the letter for tennis players has the Wimbledon logo, and the names of the organizing committee of the tournament, as well as the men's and women's professional tours (ATP and WTA) appear in its contents. In the public Russian sports space, they then tried to blur the topic as much as possible. At least, it was impossible to take comments on it.
Although Russian tennis players, for that matter, also, like cyclists, are on the national team and are on the corresponding lists on the website of the Russian Ministry of Sports. And consequently, they receive some, probably small, but still a scholarship, which, of course, dissolves like a drop in the sea of prize money of a completely different scale that professional tennis players earn, but still it exists. As, for example, Veronika Kudermetova refused to show the logo of the Tatneft oil company on her uniform. She herself stated that she was doing this to participate in Wimbledon. But no one else reported anything of the kind. Ranking points for the classification of the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women's Tennis Association. Prize money for performance in the tournament. Very solid prize money — for example, Medvedev took away from London 600 thousand pounds sterling, Rublev — 340 thousand in British currency, Mirra Andreeva — 262 thousand dollars.
And yet there is a feeling that Russian cyclists who did not agree to compete under discriminatory conditions will also gain something very important. Something that is much more expensive than money.