No matter how much Russian officials and fans would like the opposite, due to the difficult political situation, the problem of changing citizenship by athletes exists. At the meeting of the board of the department held recently at the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the following figures were announced: since February 2022, 55 athletes have left for Olympic sports under the flags of other states, and if you count non-Olympic ones, then more than 100. Representatives of domestic football also had to talk about this topic.
It should be noted that conditional transfers to other national teams have occurred before. Since February 2021, Krasnodar midfielder Eduard Spertsyan, who was born in Stavropol, began to play for Armenia. A little earlier, Rostov midfielder Khoren Bayramyan went there. At one time, he played for the Russian youth team, but did not wait for an invitation to the first team.
After the start of the NWO, the Armenian national team was replenished with two more players: Lokomotiv midfielder Nair Tiknizyan and Krasnodar defender Georgy Harutyunyan. Both had previously represented the Russian national team at different ages, and the red-green midfielder even participated in the European U21 Championship in 2021.
He preferred to play for Georgia and Saba Sazonov, who moved to Torino in the current offseason. Unlike Tiknizyan and Harutyunyan, the 21-year-old did not play for the Russian national team. However, he decided to switch under another flag only in September 2022, when the first rumors about a possible challenge appeared.
However, the list, as it turned out, does not end there. Paris NN midfielder Edgar Sevikyan refused to go to the September friendly matches. The footballer, who has played 2016 matches for the youth teams of Russia of different ages since 47, has already given his consent to the Armenian federation.
And after the match in Suez, Orenburg midfielder Stepan Hovhannisyan, who scored his debut goal in the national team's T-shirt, said that he had not yet decided under which flag he would continue to play.
"It's hard to say what my plans are. I don't guess. Now I'm here and giving my best. No one knows how events will develop further. Because of this, it is difficult to say," the midfielder said in a comment to Sport24.
At the same time, the head coach of the Russian national team Valery Karpin is calm about such steps of his wards. "I look at it normally. From a human point of view, I do not condemn these players, "Sport-Express quotes the mentor as saying.
At the same time, coach Alexander Tarkhanov does not yet see cause for concern. As the expert noted, there is no planned mass change of citizenship in the national team.
"Our national team does not participate in international tournaments now, and for some this is a reason to think. The Armenian team already has players like Spertsyan and Tiknizyan. I don't remember that there were heated discussions about them. And there is no need to make a fuss around Hovhannisyan's words. For the Russian national team, there can be no risks because of this. Just think about it, 49 people of approximately equal level were called. If, of course, we are talking about young people, and not the main team, "Tarkhanov said in a conversation with RT.
Honorary President of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov, in turn, drew attention to the age of Hovhannisyan. On Thursday, he played for the team, which brought together players under the age of 23, and he still needs to grow up to the first team.
"Firstly, no one has invited Stepan to the main national team of Russia. Yes, he scored, but after that it is very pointless to make any solid predictions. How his career will develop further, no one knows. Everyone understands the current political situation and it is his right to choose, "the source said.
According to another specialist, Gadzhi Hajiyev, fans should not worry, because those who left the Russian national team will be replaced by other, no less talented players.
"Everyone is well aware that our team now has no right to play in international tournaments. I don't see anything reprehensible in Stepan's words. This is his athletic career and choose him. The Russian national team will not lose anything for itself, no matter how many people refuse to play for it. We have enough strength to raise other guys," Hajiyev said. - Another point is that Stepan has not yet decided anything for himself, in any case, pressure continues to be exerted on him on this issue. My position in this regard is simple: those who do not want to play for the Russian national team can not do it. There will be guys who will be no less talented and with a great desire to play for the national team."
And the former striker of the Russian national team Dmitry Bulykin advised officials to pay more attention to the cultivation of young talents.
"It will be very unfortunate if Hovhannisyan leaves us in the end, but this is completely his decision. This will not give rise to a tendency to a massive outflow. And it's not worth fanning the hype around his words either. I would pay attention to something else: if a person changes his sports citizenship, but continues to play in the Russian championship, we prepare him not for ourselves, but for another country. In my opinion, it is necessary with great attention and responsibility to approach the education of their young players who will prepare for the national team, "the interlocutor of RT explained.