Shamil Tarpishchev, the longtime head of the Russian Tennis Federation, has spoken about a perilous period in his past, suggesting he could have been killed in 1996. He recalled his early role as president of the National Sports Foundation and the idea of transforming it into a state-backed fund intended to sustain sport by creating facilities and production capacity. He says that approach led to a government intervention that prohibited his entry into the NSF.
According to Tarpishchev, the move came from those who held influence and status. He claims that after leaving the NSF, a group of associates moved to shift blame and responsibility onto him, implying that his life was in danger as a result. He asserts that there was no security detail assigned to him at the time, and that he did not feel he had harmed anyone, yet was drawn into a high-stakes political struggle.
He described his living situation as tied to the so-called Krupskaya house on the Kaluga Highway near Arkhangelsk, comparing it to the grand, fenced communities seen on Rublyovka in other parts of the country. He noted that he rarely appeared in the city during that period, a detail he shared during an interview with Sport Express.
Today, the 74-year-old sport administrator who has served as an honored coach in Russia and as a member of the International Olympic Committee reflects on those days as part of a broader career in which he remained deeply involved in the administration and development of Russian tennis. The timeline points to his upcoming 75th birthday on March 7, a milestone that underscores his enduring presence in the sport and his ongoing leadership in Russian athletics.
In discussions about his relationships with key figures in Russia’s political life, Tarpishchev has alluded to the early years of the Russian Federation and the country’s first president, Boris Yeltsin. These reflections shed light on the pressures and political context surrounding the sports establishment during a period of rapid change and national transformation. His remarks appear in a contemporary sports coverage that seeks to capture the personal dimensions of a figure who has shaped Russian tennis for decades and who continues to influence its direction today. — Sport Express