“We don’t do stupidity,” ex-Russian star Shamil Tarpischev dismisses Ukraine’s request of Russian exclusion from ITF

“We don’t do stupidity,” ex-Russian star Shamil Tarpischev dismisses Ukraine’s request of Russian exclusion from ITF

Shamil Tarpischev

Tennis is currently not the primary concern at this moment as the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to cause massive destruction worldwide. However, such is the scale of the issue that it will be having effects on other domains too, one of them being sport.

Following the launch of a military operation in Ukraine by the Putin government, the Ukrainian tennis authority has now appealed that the Russian tennis federation should be barred and banned from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). This appeal is a response to Russia’s unjust attempts as taking over the country.

Shamil Tarpischev believes Russian exclusion would be stupid

Shamil Tarpischev
Shamil Tarpischev

Earlier this week, as the Putin-led government officially launched their military operation in neighbouring Ukraine, the Ukrainian tennis federation responded according to its own capacity by raising a call to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to be banned from the organization due to the country’s alleged “illegal” invasion attempt.

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Following that statement, former Russian professional Shamil Tarpischev responded to the situation in an interview with TASS/Sport Express. The Russian said that it was not necessary to contact the ITF and exclude Russia, questioning why should the Russian federation stoop to this level. He then made a strong statement by labelling the Ukrainian federation’s appeal as stupid.

“We will not ask the ITF – why should we stoop to this level? “Why should the ITF contact us? We don’t do stupidity. No one will decide on the exclusion. And in such a skirmish, we only advertise them. This is not worth doing.”– said Tarpischev to TASS/Sport Express.

Who is Shamil Tarpischev?

Tarpischev coaching the Russian Davis Cup team.

Shamil Tarpischev is a former Russian professional tennis player and a current coach. Post his retirement, he became a member of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in 1994. In his coaching career, he had been the coach of USSR and then Russia. He also led the Russian Davis Cup and King’s Cup teams to the semi finals on a few occasions.

The 73-year-old had also been embroiled in controversy in the past, as he was fined ($25,000), and was forced to apologize for making racist and sexist comments regarding American Tennis Superstars Venus and Serena Williams.

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