The Artistic Gymnastics Federation will support Ivan Kulyak, who put on his uniform with the letter "Z"

The reason for the persecution was an episode at the World Cup stage in Qatar, when Kulyak entered the award ceremony with the letter “Z” on his uniform.

The head of the federation, Vasily Titov, admitted that such an act was a violation of the form approved by the FIG, but the organization will protect the athlete "in any case", RIA Novosti reports.

"They can punish, they can remove from participation. But we were already removed", - Titov stated.

According to the coach of the Russian national team Valentina Rodionenko, this was a response to provocations.

"When a girl from Ukraine did not reach the podium with our athletes, I say that she probably does not know how children died in the Donbass. Because we are silent, and they are telling lies, they are actively slandering us”, - she said.

Kulyak put on such a uniform before going to the awards ceremony for the competition in parallel bars. The tournament was won by a Ukrainian athlete. The International Gymnastics Federation called the athlete's behavior "shocking".

Note that in Doha, Russian gymnasts performed in a neutral status.

The International Gymnastics Federation previously suspended Russian athletes, as well as judges and officials from all international tournaments held under its auspices.