Russian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Evgeny Rylov has been banned from the sport for nine months for appearing at a rally in support of President Vladamir Putin on his invasion to Ukraine. Wearing a jacket with a “Z” symbol on it to extend his support for the Russian troops has not well with his actions.
Rylov was the most successful in last years Tokyo Olympics with scalping two gold medals. FINA, the world governing body for swimming, has also made it clear to not include participants from Russia and Belarus in all the international events till the end of 2022.
FINA previously banned Russia and Belarus from participating in world championships in Hungary which is going to be held in June and July, however, they can enter other events.
“The Bureau also confirmed its position that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will not be invited to any FINA event through the end of 2022”, FINA claimed in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Friday has condemned the suspension of the Gold medalist, “We believe this is absolutely contrary to the ideas of sport,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. He also added, “When the strongest lose the opportunity to participate, this ultimately harms international federations and international competitions”.
