A Russian volleyball player was sued in Europe. Is it really fair?

Volleyball player Ekaterina Pipunyrova was supposed to become part of the French club and participate in international tournaments. 24-year-old Pipunyrova even signed a contract with a European team, but she never managed to play for the new team. At the same time, no one disrupted the volleyball player’s transition, she just decided to stay in Russia.

It seems to be a beautiful story about patriotism, but a number of sports publications report that the athlete simply chose money – the domestic club offered her more. Now the decision not to go to France may affect all domestic teams. And the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) became interested in Ekaterina herself.

Russian club in France

Russian volleyball player Ekaterina Pipunyrova has been playing in the domestic Super League since 2017. Around the same time, Pipunyrova began to be invited to the national team. At the same time, the athlete first competed for the Russian junior team, with which she won bronze at the European Olympic Festival.

Then, as a youth player, she took silver at the European Championships and took third place at the World Championships. And in 2021, she finally made it to the main team, for which she made her debut in the Nations League. As part of the country’s main team, she has eight games and 2 points.

In 2021, she also changed her club registration, leaving for a promotion. Ekaterina moved from Dynamo Krasnodar to Moscow. As part of the capital’s club, Pipunyrova won many prestigious trophies. So, she won the Super Cup and the Russian Cup, and also won the national championship.

Ekaterina Pipunyrova / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vitaly Nevar

However, Catherine could not boast of much playing time. She played quite rarely at Dynamo and did not have high performance. For example, last season she played only 23 games. Only two volleyball players performed less in the Moscow team.

Although winning titles and awards is nice, it is better to do it on the court and not on the bench. So Pipunyrova decided to change the club before the start of the 2024/25 season. Ekaterina drew attention to the French “Volero”, which has long been popular among our compatriots.

In 2022, Anna Kotikova, Vita Akimova, Elizaveta Kochurina and Victoria Kobzar joined the club at the same time. Before this transfer, Tatyana Simanikhina had already played on the team, so the local general manager assembled a “Russian five” of volleyball players. At the same time, the girls played not only in the French championship, but also in the Champions League.

Thanks to their successful performances for Volero, the athletes appeared on the radars of top European clubs. For example, after last season, Akimov and Kotikov won the Italian championship, and Kochurina went to play in Turkey. Now Anastasia Kornienko, Alina Popova and Natalia Suvorova play as part of one of the most Russian volleyball clubs. So Pipunyrova would definitely not have had any difficulty adapting.

CAS needs to look into the situation

The athlete’s former agent Ekaterina Fedorovtseva said that Pipunyrova signed a contract with the French club back in October 2023. At the same time, the Volero management wanted to see Ekaterina so much that they solved many of her everyday problems, for example, team representatives issued a residence permit for her husband.

However, less than six months later, she was given another offer. According to journalists, Lokomotiv Kaliningrad approached Pipunyrova and offered her a contract with a higher salary. The interest of the Baltic people forced Catherine to refuse a trip to France, despite the previously signed contract.

This step was condemned by many Russian agents, because what prevents foreign clubs from luring away athletes in response, showing disrespect for the agreements of our league. Moreover, now they can punish not only Pipunyrova, but also Lokomotiv.

According to BO Sport, the French club’s contract with Pipunyrova included a clause that all disputes between the club and the player would be resolved in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Team owner Stav Jacobi took advantage of it. A CAS verdict is said to be expected in the coming weeks.

Sports agents suggest the punishment could be severe. For example, Pipunyrova will be suspended from participating in all international tournaments, and Lokomotiv will be fined. At the same time, Ekaterina may not be worried about matches other than the domestic Super League, because our clubs are still excluded from such tournaments. But the team will have to pay, otherwise it will be prohibited from using foreign players.