Dmitry Gurkov, player of the Continental Hockey League (KHL) “Barys” club, renounced Russian citizenship to play for the Kazakhstan national team. The athlete’s decision was announced by the portal SPORTBOX.RU.
The 26-year-old hockey player had to renounce his Russian citizenship due to Kazakh laws. Gurkov played for Barys, residing in Russia and Kazakhstan, which is prohibited by local rules.
In the control initiated by the fans, it was determined that three more players in the Kazakh national team had two passports. Athletes were offered to give up their Russian passports to go to the World Cup. As a result, Gurkov denied Russian citizenship.
Gurkov is a graduate of Moscow Dynamo. The striker also played for the Lithuanian “Zalgiris” and the youth team “Barys” from Astana.
Anna Egorova, former European Swimming Championship medalist statedthat he does not want to change his sports citizenship although he has already received such offers.