Russian gymnast Artur Dalaloyan has responded to Ukraine's Illia Kovtun's refusal to compete in Italy due to Russian presence. Ko...
Russian gymnast Artur Dalaloyan has responded to Ukraine's Illia Kovtun's refusal to compete in Italy due to Russian presence.
Kovtun, who was set to compete for Italy's club Palestra Ginnastica Ferrara, decided to withdraw from the country's Serie A as Dalaloyan will be competing there for Gymnastic Romagna Team.
Kovtun's home country has been under vicious Russian military attack since last February.
"To be honest, I just now heard about it," Dalaloyan told RIA according to Google Translate. "Of course, I was wondering if that club would make it to the final. I was told that he preferred to play in the German Bundesliga."
"I didn’t know that I was somehow involved or connected with this. My attitude absolutely even and calm to this, it makes absolutely no difference to me, because of me (Kovtun refused) or not because of me. I come to do my job, and the rest doesn’t really bother me. I don’t want to comment on this."
It is worth mentioning that German gymnastics club TG Saar, cut ties last month with Dalaloyan's teammate Nikita Nagornyy over his Russia-Ukraine war stance.
Dalaloyan said before that he didn't experience any negativity towards him while competing in Italy.
"Everything went well, as I planned. It was very good for me as a Russian athlete. Everyone is very friendly, many people talk about Russia with love and awe, so I did not experience any negative, and in general the impressions of this tournament are the best."
Photo: Dalaloyan/Instagram
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