On the second day of MAG podium training, Illia Kovtun appeared wearing a t-shirt in the colours of the Ukrainian flag with the words “Stop War” on his chest. He wore the t-shirt on the field of play.
Kovtun has not been able to go back to Ukraine since February when he left the country to compete in Germany and the Russian invasion started on the first day of the competition. Since turning into a refugee, Kovtun had to stay first in Germany, then in Italy, then in Croatia, all while his mom and grandma are under rocket fire in Cherkasy. His outrage is more than understandable and protesting at the World Championships gives him the most visibility.
Kovtun’s protest comes in the same week as the FIG President Morinari Watanabe said he is against banning Russia and Belarus from the FIG Congress even though multiple countries will boycott the event over this decision. Watanabe claimed representatives of Russia and Belarus are neutral and do not actually represent their country in the FIG:
“When you are elected as a member of an international organisation, your position is not related to your country of origin. Basically, you are in a neutral position.”
“Above all, international organisations must make efforts to maintain, not to put an end to, relations with Russia and Belarus. As an international organisation, the FIG will convey our views to its Russian and Belarusian officials. And we, the FIG, must also listen to their opinions”.
One of the supposedly neutral attendees from Russia will be Vassily Titov, the president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation and an official at the VTB Bank. The state-owned bank, a former FIG sponsor, is now under international sanctions for its involvement in funding the war in Ukraine.
What will be interesting to see if the FIG will try to reprimand Kovtun in any way for wearing this t-shirt on the field of play. After Ivan Kuliak wore the Z symbol on his leotard at the Doha World Cup, the FIG modified the Code of Conduct to explicitly prohibit any demonstrations at competitions:
“All participants commit to […] Abstain from any kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda in any Gymnastics competitions”.
Kuliak claimed he put the Z on his leotard to protest the behaviour of the Ukrainian team which he felt was aggressive towards him:
“During the competition they allowed themselves to yell “Glory to Ukraine!” or go out onto the podium wrapped in the country’s flag while we were considered neutral athletes and felt uncomfortable because of that”.
Valentina Rodionenko also said the behaviour of the Ukrainian team at the Doha World Cup unacceptable and complained to the FIG:
“[They have been] trying to create a conflict from the first day. As the head of the delegation, I approached an FIG representative, he said that he admonished them but they did not obey. They broke competition rules for which, among other things, the punishment is lowering the score or even removal from the competition. They wouldn’t go out to the award ceremony if our [athletes] were on the medal podium. Overall, it was bullying, they were simply humiliating the country through our delegation, I can’t put it any other way”.
No doubt Kovtun’s shirt will raise questions on whether it was a violation of the FIG’s Code of Conduct. Overall, it is not clear how this rule against demonstrations will be interpreted and what kind of demonstrations will actually be prohibited. For example, at the 2021 European Championships, Artur Davtyan put a symbol for the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide on his uniform during the medal ceremony. Turkey, the perpetrator of the genocide, to this day refuses to admit it happened and could easily take issue with a gymnast wearing this symbol at a competition. With Watanabe intent on listening to opinions of all countries, it is not clear which opinions will prevail.
UPDATE: According to Gymcastic, the FIG asked Kovtun not to wear the shirt in competition anymore but he will face no penalty for wearing it during podium training.
Watanabe, as the President of the FIG is fully aware that Russia does not see their representatives at the FIG elected positions as neutrals. The latest demonstration of this was Russia’s punitive action against the then President of the FIG RSG Technical Committee Nataliya Kuzmina, who was removed from the list of candidates for the next (current) cycle for not making sure that Averina wins Tokyo AA over Linoy Ashram. Also, he should be more precise in terms and not mix the FIG members (which are national federations) and elected officials.