Degtyarev criticized the transfer of Plushenko's son to the Azerbaijani national team

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, commenting on the situation with the transfer of 13-year-old figure skater Alexander Plushenko to the Azerbaijani team, noted on May 27 that changing sports citizenship is a personal matter for each individual athlete.

At the same time, as the head of the department, Degtyarev admitted that he treats this fact extremely negatively.

"This is a personal matter for everyone, but my attitude towards it is negative. As a minister, I cannot agree with this, honestly," journalist Alexander Yunashev quoted him as saying on his Telegram channel.

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Alexander, the son of two-time Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko, received Azerbaijani sports citizenship for five years on May 21. The young man was not a member of the Russian national team this season and trained at his father's private academy. Commenting on the situation, the junior stated that "he was and remains a Russian," and expressed the hope that he would be able to adequately represent both Moscow and Baku on the international stage.

After that, on May 22, Evgeny Plushenko and his son closed their Instagram accounts (owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). Only approved subscribers will be able to view publications there.