World heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko who also leads UDAR party has called on Ukrainian athletes not to participate in political provocations and remember the high honor of the athlete.
“I’m addressing all athletes. You know well that your abilities and accomplishments… are a great responsibility and, ultimately, a great honor. Don’t peddle this honor for participation in dirty political games and provocations. Don’t become the mindless tool of scoundrels who are hiding behind you and using you,” Klitschko said in a statement released by the party’s press service on Monday.
He urged athletes to “prove your strength on sports grounds and in competition. Only in such a way you will get well-deserved fame and will be an example for young people.”
Klitschko said that the fate of an athlete who “betrayed his high rank and became a militant is contempt and criminal liability.”
As reported, a conflict erupted between representatives of the opposition and a group of unidentified men on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street in Kyiv at about 2:20 p.m. on May 18, which later turned into a brawl. The young men began throwing water bottles and stones.
Channel 5 journalist Olha Snitsarchuk and Kommersant photographer Vladyslav Sodel were injured in the incident.
According to the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper, representatives of a sports club were involved in the scuffle. According to investigations by journalists, an athlete from Bila Tserkva (Kyiv region) was involved in the attack on journalists.
