State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova commented on the situation with the racist remarks of Kaliningrad Lokomotiv head coach Andrey Voronkov about the Cuban volleyball player of Uralochka-NTMK Ailama Montalvo in the fifth match of the final playoff series of the Russian women’s volleyball championship. During the break, Voronkov instructed his team’s defender Valeria Zaitseva, “Why are you holding this monkey again?” Probably the coach had Montalvo in mind.

– This is absolutely unacceptable. You know, we take this as a half-joke, unaware that such adjectives in their addresses are not pleasant to people. Among ourselves, we think it’s just a joke.

Look, this is not racism. The man did not just think and said. He certainly wasn’t chasing racism because he didn’t want to offend about his skin color. At the moment of emotion, it seemed that such a “quick” word was easier to come up with and the girls would understand.

It’s not racism, it’s just stupid. The man said without thinking. It’s clear that you should punish for “not thinking” so you’ll think about it next time. Such behavior in a public place is unacceptable for a coach.

– Considering that this is the second racist scandal in recent years, is it worth it to somehow force the All-Russian Volleyball Federation to make it more strict?

– I think this is the most severe punishment for those who do this when it is publicly inflated. They will already think about it. If it could have gone unnoticed before, it won’t now, because the media will write about it, people will comment, they’re going to make a huge storm. This will be unpleasant for any person, and the next time he will check himself. I believe that the coach should apologize to the public and say that he did not mean such a thing, ”Zhurova said,“ Sports every day.