"Other Bundesliga clubs have queried the wisdom of bringing Melnikova in to help Chemnitz's title push. "There were only sporting reasons," club coach Tatjana Bachmayer told DW. "We didn't want to provoke anyone, and above all, we didn't want to make a political statement. We are aware that this could be seen as problematic. But for us, what counts is solidarity in sport and international understanding.""
"Commenting on Melnikova's Bundesliga participation, a German government spokesperson said: "There must be no instrumentalization of sport for Russian politics, and we are also very confident that this is not the case here." Posing with military symbol Melnikova was cleared to compete internationally as a "neutral" athlete by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) in March, after spending three years only being able to take part in competitions in Russia."
Angelina Melnikova, 2020 Olympic champion, has signed for TSV Tittmoning-Chemnitz and will compete in the final two rounds of Germany's gymnastics Bundesliga. The signing provoked controversy because Melnikova has been accused of supporting President Vladimir Putin and backing Russia's war in Ukraine and has had ties to the United Russia party. Some Bundesliga clubs questioned the move, while Chemnitz's coach cited sporting reasons and called for solidarity in sport and international understanding. Germany's government emphasized that sport should not be instrumentalized for Russian politics. The FIG cleared Melnikova as a "neutral" athlete, but Ukraine has urged a review.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]