Tutberidze demanded an apology from Tarasova for ‘slander’
The season in Russian figure skating is over, but the off-season also promises to be less hot.
In the new episode of the program “Life and Destiny” on the TV channel “Russia 1”, Tatyana Tarasova once again raised the controversial issue of doping of Kamila Valieva, whose tests revealed the presence of prohibited trimetazidine, which led to her disqualification for four years.
Tarasova noted that if it were Valieva, she would definitely continue her career after the end of the disqualification period (December 24, 2025), because, in her opinion, the skater is “not guilty” of what happened.
The Honored Coach of the USSR believes that the young athlete could have received the banned substance only from a member of the coaching staff whom he completely trusted.
“It’s not his fault, he just didn’t know. He didn’t get it from somewhere, no one passed it on to him. This is a substance you don’t even have the right to have in your possession. Not a single athlete will take a pill from the doctor’s hand.”
Only a coach can give this. It cannot be otherwise. How can children get pills from the doctor? “We can’t do anything without a coach,” Tarasova said.
These words upset Valieva’s head coach Eteri Tutberidze. In her social networks, she accused Tarasova of “slander” and demanded a public apology.
“I want to ignore it so as not to get dirty from this dirt. But this is already a deliberate slander and false accusation. Tatyana Anatolyevna, this time I expect an official apology from you,” Tutberidze wrote.
Tarasova responded to these demands ironically and promised to apologize as soon as she received evidence that doping had entered Valieva’s body in another way.
“If they can give me evidence of how this actually happened, I’ll be happy to apologize,” he says TASS Tarasova’s words.
WADA could not prove Tutberidze’s guilt
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found no evidence that Tutberidze or any member of the coaching staff was linked to Valieva’s doping.
At the same time, the agency is confident that the then 15-year-old figure skater could not independently decide to use the banned trimetazidine.
“We think that the athlete did not take this substance of his own free will. “It is clear to us that the person responsible for what happened has not been punished,” he said.
— Quote from WADA President Witold Banka AP News.
General Director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Veronika Loginova Interview with socialbites.ca He noted that the investigation of Valieva’s instructors was limited to their voluntary participation because the institution did not have law enforcement functionality.
“The involvement of any athlete’s personnel has not been determined at this time,” Loginova said.
Tarasova may face a fine of 1 million rubles
Criminal lawyer Maxim Kalinov said in an interview with socialbites.ca that Tarasova could pay a large fine if found guilty of slander.
“The case can be brought under the second part of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code, “Slandering or publicly slandering using the media.” It is punishable by a fine of up to 1 million rubles or imprisonment of up to two years. But it is clear that there will be no prison sentence here.
Even if the court finds Tarasova guilty, everything will be covered by a minimum fine,” Kalinov said.
The lawyer is also confident that if Tutberidze wants to sue Tarasova, it will be unlikely that the case will be registered.
“In my personal opinion, Tarasova is not in danger because she expresses her opinion and vision of the situation. Tarasova’s words “only the coach can give pills” are her assumption. The word “may” is not a statement, but an assumption.
I believe that there is no element of slander here and that another person’s commercial reputation has not been violated. “We have no chance of being sued and receiving compensation for any damage,” Kalinov said.