Former head coach of Lokomotiv Kaliningrad Andrei Voronkov again apologized to the Cuban volleyball player Ailama Montalvo for an inappropriate statement during the match, noting that he did not want to offend anyone with his words.

In May 2022, the executive committee of the All-Russian Volleyball Federation (VVF) disqualified Voronkov, then head of the Kaliningrad Lokomotiv, for two years for racist insulting the Cuban player Uralochka Montalvo. On Wednesday it became known that the second year of the coach’s disqualification was replaced with a conditional one, Voronkov could resume coaching in May.

– I want to assure you that I sincerely regret that my phrase, uttered in a personal conversation with a player of the team, whose coach I was at the time of the championship, in a very difficult game moment for us in the final match of the Russian championship, was perceived as an insult and a demonstration of disrespect to an opposing player. I am not a racist. I had no intention of offending any of the opposing volleyball players.

Therefore, I would like to once again offer a public apology to Ailame Montalvo.

During my long career as an athlete and coach, I have worked with foreign players many times, and our relationship has always been based on mutual trust and respect.

I love volleyball, I live it, and I am sure that I can bring a lot of benefits for the benefit of domestic volleyball, – quotes Voronkov “Match TV”.

In May 2022, Voronkov, during a timeout in the match of the final series of the Russian Championship with Uralochka, pulled Valeria Zaitseva aside and said: “Why are you catching this monkey again?” The phrase hit the air “Match TV”. At that moment, Montalvo was on the court as part of the team from the Sverdlovsk region, who later left the club.

Watch matches of the Russian Volleyball Championship on the Match TV channel and the thematic channels of the holding, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.