Russian freestyle wrestlers continue to look for a better life in other countries. Following Shamil Sharipov, two more members of the national team announced a change of sports citizenship. At the European Championships they can compete under other flags.

But how significant are these losses for Russia?

Azamat became a Serb, Chermen became an Albanian

The intention to change the passport was confirmed by Azamat Tuskaev and Chermen Valiev. Both athletes come from the Ossetian wrestling school and have won prestigious tournaments. Tuskaev, for example, became the European champion in 2020, and Valiev is the current champion of Russia, who was the strongest in the world among youth.

Azamat Tuskaev / Photo: © Anadolu / Contributor / Anadolu / Gettyimages.ru

Starting from the new season, they will defend the colors of other countries. Azamat became a wrestler from Serbia, and Chermen came under the wing of the Albanian national team. The changes are officially recorded on the United World of Wrestling (UWW) website.

True, the decision on Tuskaev was not agreed upon with the Russian Wrestling Federation (FSBR). Its president, Mikheil Mamiashvili, was surprised that Azamat now represents another country.

— I don’t know on what grounds the Serbian flag is indicated in Tuskaev’s profile, because there are no decisions on it yet. It is his right to play for another country. But when such athletes begin to end their sports careers, we’ll see who needs them there,” Mamiashvili told Match TV.

The Russian national team has fierce competition

Tuskaev and Valiev will almost certainly perform at the upcoming European Championships, which will be held from February 12 to 18 in Romania. But the Russian team will also go there, albeit under a neutral flag. Why then should famous fighters run around with documents and change citizenship?

The fact is that there has always been fierce competition in the Russian team. Wrestling schools produce high quality athletes who compete desperately for medals, recognition and funding. It is no coincidence that there is an opinion that winning the Russian championship is more difficult than becoming a European or even world champion. It is especially difficult to get into competitions where there is one quota for one weight, and several of the strongest wrestlers fight for it at once.

Tuskaev, for example, is opposed in the weight category up to 57 kg by the current Olympic champion Zaur Uguev. There is also a very promising Musa Mehtikhanov, who took second place at the recent international Ivan Yarygin Cup. Tuskaev has recently lost ground and lost his place in the national team. And how to fight such a mastodon as Uguev?

Zaur Uguev / Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV

Valiev, in the weight category up to 74 kg, was forced to win a place in the team from the current Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov and world champion David Baev. This year Magoma Dibirgadzhiev was added to them – by the way, he lost to Chermen at last year’s national championship, but in January he became a prize-winner at the Yarygin tournament. With such competition, it is easier to go to another country than to become number one in Russia.

Changing citizenship does not guarantee gold

This is not the first time that wrestlers change their passports for international tournaments. There are a lot of immigrants from Russia in European countries.

At the September World Championships, as many as 47 former Russians competed for medals. Many of them became prize-winners – for example, Albanian Zelimkhan Abakarov, Serbian Khetag Tsabolov, Bulgarian Ramazan Ramazanov, Hungarian Ismail Musukaev, as well as Bahraini Akhmed Tazhudinov and Magomedkhan Magomedov from Azerbaijan. And how many such cases have there been in the entire history of Russian wrestling!

Therefore, Azamat Tuskaev and Chermen Valiev became only one of those who changed their citizenship. Moreover, this decision does not at all guarantee them gold in international tournaments. If the wrestlers from the Russian national team get into shape, they will definitely not let anyone down.