The Ukrainian sports world has been rocked by a new scandal involving former president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine, Serhiy Bubka. He took part in the award ceremony for a Russian woman at the Olympic Games in Paris, which caused outrage among Ukrainian athletes and the public. One of the Ukrainian Olympians even publicly called Bubka "the devil.".
Ukrainian Olympic skeleton athlete Vladislav Geraskevych drew attention to Bubka's behavior on his Instagram page. According to the athlete, the former NOC head from Donbass shook hands with rhythmic gymnastics all-around winner Darya Varfolomeeva with a smile.
The newly crowned champion formally represented Germany, although she was actually born in Russia, did not publicly condemn the war against Ukraine and violated the law by competing in occupied Crimea. Among her photos was also found one in which Varfolomeeva poses against the background of a map with the occupied Ukrainian regions included in the Russian Federation.
Geraskevych called the sports official "the devil" and called for him to be expelled from the NOC and stripped of the title of Hero of Ukraine.
Former head of the NOC of Ukraine Serhiy Bubka awards Daria Varfolomeeva
