MOSCOW, January 23 CSKA basketball player Nikita Kurbanov, disqualified for three months because of cocaine, realized his mistake and is ready to prove that he can be useful for the team, said the president of the Moscow club Andrei Vatutin.
CSKA announced on Tuesday that Kurbanov, after serving his disqualification, will return to training with the team.
“”Nikita's offense remains very serious, the reputation of CSKA is hurt, and our club is strict about compliance with anti-doping rules, so the decision on admission to training with the team was not easy and required the most serious discussions. It is important that over the past days, among the very ambiguous assessment of others we heard many words of support for Nikita, including unanimously from the team, the coaching staff, and also tried to get the widest possible range of opinions from our fans. Over these three months, I talked a lot with Nikita himself, and I see how responsibly he approached the resolution of this most difficult situation, realized his mistake, is ready to prove, first of all, to himself that he can be useful for the team,” Vatutin is quoted as saying on the CSKA Telegram channel.
“We are convinced that sincere repentance, many years of hard work, merit, titles and many years of dedication to the club provide a chance to correct a mistake, prove ourselves as a responsible player and teammate, and help the team achieve our goals. As they say, after a fall, the main thing is to get back on track legs, and Nikita has such a chance. All these three months he has been training individually, his experience is important to us, so we hope that Kurbanov is able to help us at the final stage of the season even after a long absence. I sincerely wish Nikita good luck and ask the fans to consider to the player and the entire team with the usual positivity. Semyon Antonov will remain the captain of the team,” added the president of PBC CSKA.
CSKA head coach Emil Raikovich said that the army coaching staff will need some time to fully return Kurbanov to the site.
“”Nikita's absence was significant for us, although the team responded correctly and continued to progress. His presence is no less significant, because he has enormous experience, fighting spirit and a wide range of professional skills. We had a good talk, and I see that he is absolutely aware of his mistake, takes full responsibility and sincerely wants to make amends for his wrongdoing. Nikita is in good physical shape and obviously has additional motivation to continue performing. It will take us some time to get him back into the system and rotation, and I am sure that Nikita will be very helpful to us will help in the final stages of the season. I wish him and all of us good luck,” said Rajkovic.
Earlier, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) announced the disqualification of Kurbanov. A prohibited substance of class S6a (cocaine) – stimulants not classified as special substances – was found in the doping test of a Moscow club player. His suspension ended on January 19. At the same time, the player himself suspended his career on October 27; as noted, this decision was made “for personal reasons.”
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