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Evgeni Plushenko Academy filed a lawsuit against the mother of its former student. Is the era of civilized contractual relations coming in Russian figure skating, what many have dreamed of? Or will nothing really change, there will simply be more scandals? Sports clarify the situation.
Almost 2 million rubles are at stake
The defendant is the mother of figure skater Arina Parsegova – Natalia. Explanation from the social networks of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow: “The Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow received a civil case on the claim of the Plushenko’s Angels Figure Skating Academy for the collection of debt in the amount of 1.9 million rubles. The claims are based on the unilateral refusal of the defendant to fulfill the agreement on sports training and performing agency actions.” From the outside, this all, of course, looks wild – well, the child transferred to another school and transferred, what’s so bad about it that costs as much as 2 million? It happened, if anyone has forgotten, in May 2023, when Arina left Plushenko for Eteri Tutberidze, with whom she had previously trained. It was reported that Arina was supposedly called back by Eteri Georgievna herself, which was received with hostility by many fans, although in fact there was nothing like that.
The myth that there are some separate bad headquarters who lure away athletes, and the rest, they say, no, no, can hardly be considered reliable. The reality is that in figure skating everyone gets poached – or at least almost everyone. Some people do it head-on, while others work more subtly and cast bait through familiar athletes, other coaches and parents, but the essence does not change.
So, the skater moved on. But here’s a nuance – at the Plushenko Academy there is a contract system, and it can be difficult to just get out of a concluded contract. Moreover, what’s interesting is that the idea of mass contracting was very actively promoted during the peak phase of the confrontation between Eteri Tutberidze VS Evgeni Plushenko, during which several extremely famous athletes migrated between schools.
And now the first trials have already begun, which means that the system is working. But have we arrived at civilization? The question is controversial, and it is quite possible to answer “yes” to it. As far as we know, the athletes’ agreement with the academy does not contain impossible conditions. It contains basic points on the rights of the parties, obligations and liability for their failure to fulfill them. In many ways, this agreement was created in order to insure the coach and the academy from waste, after which the athlete turns around and silently leaves for another school – that is, it performs exactly the same function that fans and prominent figure skating figures talked about during the active period of loud transitions .
If the athlete terminates the contract without valid reasons (for example, repeated failure by the academy to fulfill its obligations), he is obliged to pay a penalty. Apparently, Arina Parsegova found herself in exactly this situation. Almost certainly, the signatories are warned about the risks of such an undertaking in advance, but everywhere, as they say, there can be pitfalls.
Who used contracts before Plushenko ?
By the way, it is worth recognizing that the Angels were not the first to sign contracts with athletes. For example, many prominent ice dancing coaches previously resorted to this. Oleg Sudakov, who raised Maxim Shabalin and supervises Yegor Bazin, Elizaveta Khudayberdieva’s partner, still uses contracts.
But it was Evgeni Plushenko and his wife Yana Rudkovskaya who made a system out of contracts – as fair as it was tough. Is it professional? Definitely. Nothing but facts – if there are any violations, you have to pay for them. And if the clauses of the agreement seem too strict, then who forced them to sign?
However, there is a feeling that Russian figure skating is not yet ready for this form of relationship. Too strict procedural frameworks in a world where much is decided “under the carpet” may be necessary, but it will take a long and painful time to get used to them. This means that we will almost certainly see stories like yesterday’s with courts more than once.
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