Igor Denisov was captain of the Russian national football team. Now the ex-professional is one of the few celebrities in the country to oppose Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine.
For a long time, Igor Denisov was an international figurehead of Russian football. The 38-year-old played a total of 54 international matches for the national team and captained them for many years. But there is not much left of Denisov’s national pride. The ex-professional has clearly distanced himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine.
“I’m against people dying,” Denisov said in an interview with Russian sports blogger Nobel Arustamian entitled “Football and Life After February 24”. The invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine that day was “a shock and horror” for him, said the four-time Russian champion. The war is a “catastrophe”.
Igor Denisov to Putin: “I’m ready to get on my knees before you”
Few prominent Russian athletes dare to publicly oppose the attack on Ukraine. Denisov is aware of the consequences of his statements: “I don’t know, maybe I’ll be imprisoned or killed for these words, but I’ll say it like it is.” His life has “changed drastically” since the beginning of the war: “I didn’t sleep. I probably slept three hours for four days. I was just shocked.”
Shortly after the invasion, he even recorded a video message in which he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to give in: “I’m ready to get on my knees before you.” However, no media in Russia wanted to publish this message. The Russian population is partly to blame for the war, “because we don’t manage to convey our point of view to the government,” he said.
The former captain of “Sbornaja” played for Zenit St. Petersburg for eleven years and won the Uefa Cup (now Europa League) with the club in 2008. He was most recently under contract with Lokomotiv Moscow and ended his active career in 2019.
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Source: Stern
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