Astana-Acca Due O's decision to fire Anna Solovey for "unprofessional behaviour" has been disputed by the president of the Ukrainian Cycling Federation, who claims that she was instead fired for refusing to take up Kazakhstani citizenship ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The 23-year-old signed for Astana-Acca Due O this season after claiming a silver medal in the individual time trial at the World Championships in Ponferrada last year, which was achieved despite her preparations being hampered by the conflict between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian government in her home town of Lugansk.
Solovey, who had previously served a two-year ban for a positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone, raced just once before the 2014 Worlds, and spent much of the year training on the track in Lvov, in western Ukraine, some 1,400 kilometres from her home town.
ADVERTISEMENT
Solovey has made just three appearances in the team's colours this season and Astana-Acca Due O announced on Tuesday that it had terminated her contract, citing "several organizational difficulties that the athlete, with her unprofessional behaviour, has caused to the team."
In a statement released on Wednesday, however, the Cycling Federation of Ukraine said that Astana general manager Alexander Vinokourov had "repeatedly met" with its president Oleksandr Bashenko to propose Solovey's switch to racing for Kazakhstan. The CFU stated its belief that there was a "clear connection between the termination of Anna Solovey's contract and her refusal to perform for Kazakhstan."
"The Cycling Federation of Kazakhstan and Alexandre Vinokourov personally have more than once asked me to let Anna perform for their country," Bashenko said. "This was not a kind of proposal that we would accept. Anna Solovey is a real face of Ukrainian cycling, she is a great talent and a real medal candidate for the next Olympic Games."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1Gvw1os
No comments:
Post a Comment