(Reuters) – The International Swimming Federation announced on Friday the nine-month suspension of Russian Olympic gold medalist Yevgeny Rylov, who had participated in a rally in support of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, a move that has angered the Kremlin and Russian sports officials.
Yevgeny Rylov, who won gold in the 100 and 200 meter backstroke events at the Tokyo Olympics last year, was among many athletes who took part in a massive rally last month hosted by Vladimir Putin at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Yevgeny Rylov, who also lost his sponsorship deal with swimwear maker Speedo due to his attendance at the rally, told Sport Express that his lawyers were looking into the case but it was not yet clear whether they were going to appeal his suspension.
“We believe this is absolutely against the ideas of sport,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. “When the strongest (competitors) lose the opportunity to participate, it ultimately harms international federations and international competitions.”
In a statement to the Tass news agency, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matitsine denounced a “discriminatory and politicized” measure.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee, called the case discrimination based on nationality.
“Suspending an athlete for nine months for participating in a concert is not even an embarrassment, it’s a joke,” Stanislav Pozdnyakov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The Fina has already canceled all its events that were to take place in Russia and has banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from participating in its competitions until the end of the year.
(Reuters report, French version Augustin Turpin)
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