Officials oblige Chechen athletes to coordinate their behaviour with authorities

Chechen athletes should agree their behaviour when outside the republic with authorities, local officials have announced, explaining this by the concern for the image of the Chechen people.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July, Ramzan Kadyrov promised that the Chechen natives who discredit the Chechen nation by their behaviour would be returned to the republic and forced to wash floors.

On August 27, the state-owned "Chechnya Today" News Agency reported that officials had conducted explanatory conversations with Chechen "athletes-bloggers" about the inadmissibility of cheeky behaviour that discredits the honour and dignity of the nation.

The athletes had a meeting with Akhmed Dudaev, the Minister for National Policy, Foreign Relations, Press and Information; Valid Edilov, the Minister for Physical Culture and Sports; Apti Alaudinov, the Head of the Chechen Security Council; and Aslan Iraskhanov, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). Outside Chechnya, athletes are perceived as representatives of the Chechen people; and they "have no moral right to cast doubt on established centuries-old traditions and values by their rash actions," the officials have stated.

"You should know that you are Chechens; and if you speak out somewhere, you must comply. Outside Chechnya, you represent our republic and the head thereof. Therefore, you were gathered here to convey to you what you are doing wrong, and you will not be allowed to do," Valid Edilov said, in particular.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 28, 2022 at 12:13 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.