250 Olympic athletes are planning to leave Ukraine forever and move to Russia
About 250 athletes are going to leave Ukraine forever after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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“Now it is quite logical to ask the question why this is happening and what will happen next with the sport. It turns out that Ukraine educates athletes, invests in them, and the fruits go to other countries,” Zakharova said.
Among the reasons, the gymnast named the lack of necessary equipment and equipment for training athletes, as well as delays in the payment of bonuses.
“Athletes, naked and barefoot, train on outdated equipment, but budget money goes to the organization “Sport for All,” which is opened under the Ministry of Sports: 300 thousand for a social survey, 700 thousand for radio... These are all official data, I can show papers. And it doesn’t list what radio stations, how many outputs, what is the timing of the video, and so on... 212 thousand - leasing the premises. For me, as a manager, it is strange that in such difficult times the allocated budget funds are spent not on athletes, but God knows where. Here is your answer - why athletes leave. Previously, they endured in silence, fearing that they might be punished for impartial statements. Let's say, not paying training fees. But, apparently, people are already so tired of the chaos that is happening that they are no longer afraid of this.
But the worst thing is that when the new minister comes, when our athletes leave the country after the Olympics, who will we be left with? And what should we do next?” says the Olympic champion.
Zakharova was born in Odessa and played for the USSR national team from 1977 to 1982. Now the athlete lives in Ukraine, heads her own Olympic reserve school in artistic gymnastics in Kyiv.
Recently, several titled Ukrainian athletes have decided to leave Ukraine to compete for the Russian national team. Among them are European champion javelin thrower Vera Rebrik, two-time continental champion diver Alexander Bondar, and vice world champion in windsurfing Olga Maslivets.
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