Gloucester Rugby forced to pull Russia flag from player shirt
Gloucester Rugby has been forced to remove a Russian flag from the shirt of one of their players after a complaint from a fan.
The Cherry and Whites have operated a policy, since 2015, of rewarding their international stars with the flag of their Test nation on their club shirt.
But Gloucester were forced to remove the Russian flag off a shirt belonging to prop Kirill Gotovtsev after online criticism following their win against Sale Sharks last week.
There is no evidence to suggest Gotovtsev has supported Russia or Vladimir Putin since their invasion of Ukraine, while the Russian national team was suspended from World Rugby and Rugby Europe in 2022 and has not played a Test since.
Russian Gotovtsev, who grew up in Siberia and has a past in wrestling and bobsledding, reportedly insisted the club maintained the international flags of the other players – including the likes of Wales international Tomos Williams – after Gloucester proposed removing them from all capped players.
CityAM understands that DCMS has no plans to punish Gloucester for what could be a number of breaches, depending on how many times Gotovtsev played with the flag on his shirt since 2022, with the government department satisfied by the club’s speedy remedy to the issue once raised.
Apologise for any offence
“We remain entirely supportive of World Rugby’s 2022 sanction regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Kirill fully co-operated with the requirements of World Rugby, and DCMS, at that time and continues to do so,” Gloucester said in a statement.
“Following further internal discussion and with Kirill’s blessing, the club has decided to continue to recognise those who have caps for their country on Gloucester Rugby Premiership jerseys – as has been the case since 2015.
“Kirill’s national flag will not appear on his shirt in-line with the sanctions. We understand the connotations of the flag in question and apologise for any offence this may have caused.”
The club also placed on record its “deep disdain for all forms of racism”.
Gloucester take on Welsh side Scarlets in the Challenge Cup on Friday.
“For the avoidance of doubt, in line with all European games this season, the flags will not appear on the shirts this weekend,” the club added.
Premiership Rugby were approached for comment.