Robert ShilkovichCorrespondent SportAll materialsOver the past 24 hours, a lot has changed in the career of two-time Olympic swimming champion Yevgeny Rylov. The swimmer refused to compete at the World Championships, lost sponsors, and now he has also been charged with the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The main thing about what is happening with the Russian champion is in the Sport material. On March 22, it became known that the manufacturer of swimming equipment Speedo broke off the sponsorship contract with Rylov. The reason for this was the participation of Rylov in a concert in honor of the reunification of Crimea with the Russian Federation in Luzhniki. More than 200 thousand people gathered in the stands and in the vicinity of the arena, and in addition to Rylov, other famous athletes took to the stage: three-time Olympic champion in cross-country skiing Alexander Bolshunov, gymnasts Dina and Arina Averina, figure skaters Victoria Sinitsina, Nikita Katsalapov, Evgenia Tarasova, Vladimir Morozov .Soon, the Energy Standard team, which plays in the commercial series of the International Swimming League (ISL), refused to cooperate with Rylov and other Russian swimmers. The club said that the support of athletes for the special operation of Russian troops in Ukraine is harmful and cannot remain without consequences. In addition to Rylov, Clement Kolesnikov, Evgenia Chikunova, Maxim Stupin and Andrey Zhilkin spoke for Energy Standard. In the State Duma, the actions of Rylov's foreign ex-partners were sharply condemned, accusing them of hypocrisy and violating the «Sport is out of politics» principle, and also called on Russian brands to cooperate with sportsman. Rylov himself was praised for his steadfastness by the deputy head of the sports committee, Sergei Burlakov.
"I am glad that our athletes are not ready to go against their country and conscience for the sake of contracts with foreign firms. Eugene has repeatedly proved with his sporting achievements that he is a worthy citizen of his country. The two-time Olympic champion confirmed this even now, showing that material wealth is not a priority for a young man. After all, going to the concert, the athlete was well aware of the possible consequences", — said Burlakov.