You can be a smart football player, but think about the beauty of your nails

The leadership of the football club “Irkutsk” has officially suspended its goalkeeper from training and matches because of the pink nail polish. Player Nikita Lobusov refused to change his appearance. The team notes that there were no such claims against the athlete before, there were no questions about his professional qualities. The regional football federation sided with the club’s management, calling it “excessive” media attention to the incident.

Football club “Irkutsk” officially announced the suspension of goalkeeper Nikita Lobusov from training and matches. The reason was his manicure – pink lacquer applied to the nails. The club’s management, setting out their version of what happened, called the team “a kind of pyramid of educating players” – since the club also includes a children’s school, where about 300 people study. “With football, we educate boys as men. Coaches instill, among other things, such important qualities as responsibility, diligence, the ability to be responsible for one’s own words and actions. And we believe that men should be just men. And the players should think first of all about how to bring victory to the team, and not about how to express themselves. If an athlete wants to stand out, he must do it within the limits of what is permitted, ”the club’s representatives said in a statement. It also notes that Mr. Lobusov “could not win the competition for a place in the starting lineup”, but they wish him “still to show his good side in football and find a new club.”

It is worth noting that information about the conflict appeared a few days ago on social networks, but the representatives of the club initially denied the possibility of removing the player. In particular, in an interview with the publication “Sport-Express” Ilya Kungurov, executive director of FC Irkutsk, said that “no one has disqualified anyone”: “The player is now in the application for the season. Painted nails or not, it should remain within the team. Of course, he can start the next match. No one removed the person from the application. He wanted to hype, no questions asked. We are ready for this, we take it easy. That’s why we don’t remove him from the team.”

However, after the official announcement of the removal of the player, Ilya Kungurov did not comment on his initial statements to Kommersant. “Our position is detailed. There is nothing more to add to it,” he said. At the same time, Mr. Kungurov emphasized that the team and the coaching staff had no questions about the professional qualities of Nikita Lobusov, “there were no complaints about the appearance either.”

“I refused to remove the manicure, as it does not affect the quality of my work. This is my way of expressing myself, it does not mean that I am involved in any community or subculture. Among my acquaintances there are many who express themselves in this way, ”Nikita Lobusov quotes “AiF Irkutsk”.

The general director of the football federation of the Irkutsk region, Vadim Vdovichenko, told Kommersant that he did not understand the hype in the media around “this story.” “There is no need to bring it to the surface. Do we really not have worthy guys, events that you can write about? Why pay attention to a boy with painted nails? he argues. Mr. Vdovichenko also noted that he supports the decision of the football club: “Professional football has strict rules, requirements, including the appearance of the players. Everything is specified in the contract. In the amateur league, it’s a little simpler, of course, but here the situation is unequivocal. The coach asked the player to put his appearance in order, he refused. That’s the whole story,” he sums up.

Vlad Nikiforov, Irkutsk