Several Russian athletes have changed citizenship since the start of the war in Ukraine, and the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports wants to introduce a law to put an end to this phenomenon.

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Russian athletes who want to represent other countries are forced to pay compensation

Tennis player Varvara Grachova (43 WTA) recently decided to represent France, but other top athletes also thought about this decision (Andrii Rublev, Daria Kasatkina, Mirra Andreeva).

So, the State Duma is considering the possibility of forcing athletes to pay compensation if they want to change their sports citizenship.

“If an athlete who is or was a candidate for the national team of the Russian Federation in sports, is registered (declared) by a sports federation of a foreign state and (or) another foreign sports organization to participate in international sports competitions, such an athlete is considered a recognized candidate for the sports team of the Russian Federation . is obliged to make a compensatory payment to the Russian organization (organizations), which (carried out) his sports training, in the amount of expenses incurred for his sports training”. it is stated in the text of the draft law.

“This is our taxpayers’ money, which cannot be wasted. Our committee is preparing this bill, according to which athletes will have to make compensation payments when changing citizenship” – Dmytro Svishtovhead of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the State Duma, in an interview with TASS.

The legendary Russian figure skating coach Tetiana Tarasova believes that this law will not affect the athletes’ decision to change the country.

“We need to know how much money they want to compensate. Could this affect athletes’ decisions to change citizenship? Whoever wants it will do it anyway. But we have to see how much it will cost. The athlete also spoke for this country, which brought him something. He played for many years” – Tatyana Tarasova.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, several Russian athletes have changed citizenship:

• Tennis: Varvara Hrachova (France)

• Cycling: Pavlo Sivakov (France), Mykhailo Yakovlev (Israel)

• Swimming: Anastasia Kirpichnikova (France), Mark Nikolaev (Australia)

• Chess: Alina Kashlinska (Poland), Oleksandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland)

• Rowing: Anna Prakaten (Uzbekistan), Mykola Pimenov (Serbia)

• Figure skating: Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin (Georgia).

• Short track: Sofia Prosvirnova (Denmark).