Ahn Hyun-soo (38, Russian name Viktor Ahn), a Korean short-track legend who became a naturalized Russian citizen. He finally opened up about the controversy that arose last month in connection with Seongnam City Hall’s application for the coaching position of the ice team.
All through his 7 days of social media (go2v Hyunsoo Ahn <Victor Ahn). He said, “I’m sorry that everyone’s name has risen as a noisy issue in a difficult time. The reason I couldn’t answer your questions was because the recruitment process was in progress. He explained that he had no choice but to be silent to speak after the announcement, judging that it could cause misunderstanding.”
He said, “For 30 years, I have lived exclusively with sports. Due to my personality, it is difficult for me to express my voice. As a result, parts that were not true appeared to be true,” he said, lowering his body, saying, “I will humbly accept the criticism of the people who have to choose naturalization.”
At the same time, he disclosed the process of naturalization in Russia in 2011, the process of receiving a lump sum pension received for winning three gold medals at the 2006 Torino Olympics, and the fact of donating the full pension.
Ahn Hyun-soo said, “I left for Russia in June 2011, and while talking with the president of the Russian Skating Federation about future training plans, I heard the story of Tatiana Volulolina, a Russian-Australian dual nationality female athlete from Russia.” It is true that I knew it was possible and found out.”
He continued, “But I realized that I did not fall under a special case like that player, and after much consideration, I made the decision to naturalize in July. I decided that it was right to return the lump sum (of the pension) I received, so I donated the entire amount to a child in need of heart surgery and a junior athlete in need of rehabilitation and treatment.” 온라인바카라
Ahn Hyun-soo said, “However, as the naturalization process became known through an article from Russia in August, it was misrepresented in Korea as if the pension was received in July and naturalization was decided in August. Naturalization was announced in August, but everything was decided in July and proceeded according to the procedure.”
He pledged, “I will humbly accept the criticism of the people who have to choose naturalization for any reason in the future, and I will try to speak out as much as possible so that these misunderstandings do not accumulate.”
Previously, the Korea Ice Skating Leaders Federation (Chairman Jang Kwang-deok) released a press release on the 13th, the day after the interview with two leaders, such as Ahn Hyun-soo and Kim Seon-tae, who served as technical coach and coach of the Chinese short track team during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, respectively, applying for the Seongnam City Hall ice coach position. I strongly criticized mine.
In particular, the federation explained, “Viktor Ahn gave up his Korean nationality and became a naturalized Russian citizen, and when the controversy arose about betraying his country, he said, ‘I knew dual citizenship would be possible. However, it was later revealed that he had received his pension as a lump sum right before naturalization. He claimed that he knew in advance that dual citizenship was not allowed and pretended not to know after receiving the pension in a lump sum.”
The Skating Leaders Federation said, “These two chose to take charge of the Chinese national team during the Beijing Winter Olympics instead of self-restraint when domestic leadership activities became difficult due to discipline and controversy. Freedom of job choice must be guaranteed, but freedom of job choice cannot exceed fairness, which is the most important value in sports.”
In the midst of this, six players from Seongnam City Hall, including Choi Min-jung, Kim Gil-ri, Kim Gun-hee, and Lee Jun-seo, who were participating in international competitions, signed a ‘player position on coach recruitment’ stating that “the process of selecting a coach must be fair and transparent above all else, not outside influence.” ‘ was announced through Choi Min-jung’s social media at dawn on the 31st of last month, causing a stir.