Four-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko once slammed athletes who ‘turn their back’ on Russia. Now his teenage son will skate for Azerbaijan.

Thirteen-year-old figure skater Alexander Plushenko is changing his sporting citizenship and will now compete for Azerbaijan. This is a common practice among figure skaters who feel they have little chance of making the Russian national team — they switch to countries where figure skating is less developed, hoping to qualify for world championships and the Olympics in a less competitive field.

The skater’s father, two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, spent years publicly proclaiming his patriotism and voicing support for the Russian government. He was sharply critical of athletes who changed their sporting citizenship after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “I sincerely don’t understand how anyone can turn their back on their country, accept those conditions, renounce the special military operation for the sake of competing at the Olympics. [How they can] renounce our president, renounce our lands, our resources, our mothers and fathers,” he said in October 2022.

The announcement that Plushenko would compete for Azerbaijan split opinion on social media. Evgeni Plushenko and his son even made their Instagram accounts private. Here is what coaches, commentators, and experts are saying about it — along with Evgeni Plushenko himself.

Evgeni Plushenko

We’ll see how it goes. Sasha [short for Alexander] is still very young — he’s 13. He was never on the Russian national team, and for various reasons he didn’t compete this season, which meant he sat out the quarantine period. He didn’t take anyone’s spot; he trained at my private academy.

This is a very difficult decision. A responsible and pivotal moment has arrived in Sasha’s life. I hope for friendship and support between Russia and Azerbaijan in the area of sports. I believe we will develop figure skating in our countries together, helping and supporting each other. These are difficult times, and that kind of support matters a great deal.

Anton Sikharulidze

President of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia

Sasha Plushenko is a young kid, and we have rules governing transfers. He hasn’t competed, he’s not on the national team, and he hasn’t been actively involved in all-Russian competitions this year. He’s a minor — his parents make the decisions.

Yes, he received an Azerbaijani passport. Taking all the rules into account, we legitimately gave Sasha the opportunity to compete for Azerbaijan. He didn’t break any rules. God willing, he’ll be able to make something of himself there.

Tatyana Tarasova

Coach; inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame

He has a father and a mother. They believe he’ll have a better shot at getting to junior championships there. There’s no competition there. Here [in Russia], the competition is fierce. They’re thinking about his future and don’t want all their effort to go to waste.

Dmitry Guberniev

Commentator

He can compete for whomever he wants. That’s the personal business of Gnom Gnomych and his parents. If he wants to compete for Azerbaijan, I understand the impulse — it gives him a guaranteed shot at being represented at the Olympic Games.

There may also be some business considerations between Evgeni and Yana [Rudkovskaya] — Azerbaijan is not a poor country.

Svetlana Zhurova

State Duma deputy, Olympic champion in speed skating

If all the proper legal procedures have been followed, that’s the athlete’s right. If this weren’t Plushenko’s son, no one would be talking about it. For people like Zhenya [short for Evgeni] and Yana, this was not an easy decision to make — they’re going to be in the crossfire. Most people will condemn them. I’m certain the state never invested a single kopek in his son’s training — he worked at a private school. But people will still find a way to condemn them.

Evgeni made this decision because he’s afraid his son will miss out on international experience, and at 13 you need to start getting it. It won’t be easy for Sasha, but there’s less competition in Azerbaijan. Athletes and fans will understand, but ordinary people will be extremely judgmental. Zhenya needs to be ready — accusations of being unpatriotic are coming his way.

Vitaly Milonov

State Duma deputy

Plushenko made a huge mistake. His son is still a minor — he doesn’t make his own decisions. The responsibility here lies entirely with Evgeni.

I don’t know why he did this. He’d been holding himself with such dignity all this time. And then to end it like this — so badly. Honestly, it leaves a bad taste. It should also be noted that Plushenko’s son got support and help here in Russia.

I don’t discuss minors, so there’s only Evgeni to talk about here. It turns out that for him, certain professional considerations matter more than his country. Thank God we have a huge number of other athletes who don’t do things like this.

Maria Butyrskaya

1999 world champion

I’ve got a different reason stuck in my head — it’s not about the competition here, it’s about getting back onto the international circuit. Zhenya doesn’t do anything on a whim. Obviously, they thought this through and weighed it all up. Sure, it’s cooler to skate for Russia, and he knows that. I don’t really keep tabs on Alexander, so I honestly don’t know if he’ll actually make it over there.

Is it a loss for our figure skating? Boys in figure skating are developing in a very interesting way right now. Either way, we’re losing something: the competition gets thinner, and the Plushenko name itself is associated with Russia — he’s a champion and our hero. That’s actually why I went a different route and put my own child in a different sport — tennis — to avoid dealing with all this later. Ha ha.

Elena Vaitsekhovskaya

Sports journalist

Somewhere along the way, we fell into the habit of automatically framing a figure skater’s switch to another flag as either “a loss” or “not a loss.” But predicting what any given skater might accomplish after changing countries is, when you think about it, a pretty uncharitable thing to do — especially when the person leaves without damaging relationships with coaches, betraying anyone, or leaving debts unpaid. Without burning bridges, in other words.

The figure skating world, for all its popularity as a sport, is tiny. You never know when and at what point in time fate will bring you face to face with someone you once muttered “no great loss” at behind their back.

You can have your fun with the “Plushenko and Azerbaijan” angle, but something worth noting is actually going on here: ever since Russian athletes — and others — started switching their sporting citizenship, figure skating has effectively developed a club system, except the clubs are countries.

Irina Rodnina

Three-time Olympic champion

Russia is losing a talented figure skater? I don’t understand why these cases are always talked about in terms of loss. We have never blocked the movement of people — at the national level or in sports. In this situation, it was his parents who made the decision, and they’re the ones who bear responsibility for it.

Why is all the attention on Sasha Plushenko? Tutberidze’s daughter has competed for who knows how many different countries, and somehow I haven’t seen that causing any outrage among fans or journalists. She competes for another country — and holds three citizenships, on top of it all. So much for patriotic values and moral standards.

Alena Leonova

2012 world silver medalist

People are looking for ways to compete on the international stage, and that’s not a bad thing. Given how unclear everything is in Russia right now, the competition is genuinely tough even at the junior level. Coaches and parents make the decisions they feel they need to make to secure a child’s athletic future. I don’t see anything remarkable here — it’s not good or bad, it’s just a normal situation.