Former President of the National Olympic Committee Sergey Bubka found himself at the center of a scandal after he took part in the award ceremony for a Russian woman at the Olympic Games in Paris. Bubka, who is accused of doing business in Russia and the occupied territories, shocked the public with his participation in the award ceremony for Daria Varfolomeeva, who formally represented Germany.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladislav Geraskevych drew attention to Bubka's behavior on his Instagram page. According to the athlete, the former NOC head shook hands with Varfolomeeva, the winner of the all-around in rhythmic gymnastics, with a smile. Geraskevych emphasized that Varfolomeeva, although she represented Germany at the competition, has a dubious reputation due to her Russian identity and participation in competitions in occupied Crimea.
In addition, Varfolomyeva did not publicly condemn the war against Ukraine and violated the law by appearing in photos with a map that includes occupied Ukrainian regions as part of the Russian Federation. This caused even more outrage among Ukrainian athletes and the public.
Geraskevych sharply criticized Bubka, calling him “the devil,” and called for the former NOC president to be removed from all official positions and stripped of the title of Hero of Ukraine. This incident became a new pretext for discussing relations between Ukrainian and Russian sports representatives on the international stage.
