February 28, four days after the attack Russia to Ukraine and shortly after the exclusion of Russian clubs from the games, incl. the basketball team of the Euroleague, in which Zenit also played, the heads of the club from St. Petersburg agreed at the request of some foreign players. They expressed a desire to leave Russia temporarily, which could be treated as an application for unpaid leave. Among these players was, among others Mateusz Ponitkawho has been working at Zenit since 2019 and is the captain of the team.
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We tried to contact Ponitka then, but the basketball player did not want to comment on the situation. He also did not provide any information via social media, and he did not make any reference to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. It was only known that he had left Russia. Zenit he said that leaving the team during the season is not foreseen in the contracts, but the club “treats the situation with understanding”.
According to the information “Sports Review“The fact that the players were formally on unpaid leave did not mean that they did not intend to finally part with the club. Zenit, however, did not agree to such a solution and after a few days began to demand the return of the” vacation “basketball players.
On Tuesday it turned out that Ponitka was among the players who returned to Saint Petersburg. “After a short vacation to return home, Mateusz Ponitka, Jordan Loyd, Billy Baron, Tyson Carter and Alex Poitress have already returned to the team” – the club wrote in a laconic statement.
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Returning to Russia and entering the pitch on Monday against CSKA, the captain of the Polish national team naturally exposed himself to criticism from fans. His movement will be interpreted as the opposite of that of the football team midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiaka, which, after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, sought to end the contract with FK Krasnodar. It was successful, albeit largely because of that FIFA suspended contracts of foreign players playing in Russia until June 30. On loan, Krychowiak moved to AEK Athens.
The situation of basketball players playing in Russia, however, is much more complicated in this respect than that of footballers – FIBA, despite excluding the local clubs from cup games, still has not suspended the Russian basketball federation, as FIFA did with football. In the case of Ponitka, who has a contract until the end of the 2023/24 season, refusing to return to Saint Petersburg could mean a suspension, because the basketball players have no legal grounds to terminate the contract.
This season, a player of another Russian team Parma Perm was Mateusz’s younger brother – Marcel, also a representative of Poland. A few days ago, the club from Perm informed that all foreign basketball players, including the Pole, are leaving the team.
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