Status of Stella Zakharova Cup still uncertain

Photograph of Stella Zakharova, courtesy of the Kiev Times

Amid rising political and military tensions in Ukraine, former Soviet gymnastics champion Stella Zakharova, now a resident of Kiev, is struggling to find government support for her gymnastics competition, the Stella Zakharova Cup, last year supported by a strong field of competitors including teams from Russia, Japan and Brazil as well as the home team.  

The competition is reliant on government support for part of its funding and also for confirmation of the competition dates.  Originally scheduled for March 29th and 30th, the competition was first rescheduled for April but its postponement currently appears indefinite.  Zakharova is complaining that 

Minister of Sport and Youth, Dmitri Bulatov, is ignoring her requests for support and information.  She is conducting a fairly vocal campaign, having appeared recently on Ukrainian radio and in a number of local press reports.  The latest story about this is here - http://thekievtimes.ua/sport/361019-bulatova-obvinili-v-sryve-kubka-stelly-zaxarovoj.html

The status of Ukraine's gymnastics programme has been a cause for concern for some time, with top internationals Nikolai Kuksenkov and Oleg Stepko migrating to Russia and Azerbaijan recently, and rumours that world championships medal contenders Oleg Verniaiev and Igor Radivilov might also remove themselves from their home country's ailing programme.  Both Stepko and Kuksenkov had experienced problems in finding moneys to pay for necessary medical expenses.  Ukraine MAG coach Yuly Kuksenkov has also recently joined the Russian team at Lake Krugloye.  The country's WAG programme has been in crisis for some years.