Artem Dzyuba
Dzyuba declined to join the Russian football team as a sign of protest but has been slammed by Stakhovsky for previously failing to condemn the war
Sergiy Stakhovsky, the Ukrainian tennis star turned soldier is not impressed with Dzyuba’s rejection of Russian national team call-up. Referring to an earlier incident when Dzyuba didn’t condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin but instead hit out at Ukrainian footballer, Vitaliy Mykolenko for his comments, Stakhovsky put out a stern public statement slamming the former Russian captain.
Stakhovsky wrote on his social media, “So Dzyuba, you are against war? Your strong moral principles the world already saw not long ago on all social media outlets. So, when you try to educated about morals and what will be in the future, I feel like I am in a stand-up show which is not funny. You personally benefitted from your government, you personally supported Putin and now you and your mates carry the consequences…enjoy.”
Earlier, Everton’s Ukrainian footballer Vitaliy Mykolenko had slammed the Russian football team for not speaking against Putin’s invasion. Artem Dzyuba took to social media to respond to this jibe.
“I am against discrimination based on nationality. I’m not ashamed that I am Russian, I’m proud to be Russian and I don’t understand why athletes should suffer now. I am against double standards. Why is everyone always shouting about sports outside of politics but at the first opportunity, when it comes to Russia, this principle is completely forgotten”, wrote Dzyuba.
Sergi Stakhovsky is presently defending his country against Russian invasion. His images in military gear are already viral. The former Ukrainian tennis player retired from professional tennis to join the Ukrainian reserve forces. He then left behind his wife and children in Hungary to join his nation’s army in Ukraine for their fight against Russia. Stakhovsky has been very vocal about the Russia-Ukraine crisis on social media. He has been sharing regular updates of the ongoing crisis on Twitter.
Sergi Stakhovsky rose to fame after defeating Roger Federer in Wimbledon 2013. The Ukrainian has a career best ranking of 31 in ATP Men’s singles. Stakhovsky was born in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine which is one of the primary targets of the Russian military. The 36-year old decided to retire from professional tennis for a “greater cause”.
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