Alexander Ovechkin has spent the past week at the center of an international controversy after appearing in a campaign video for United Russia, the country’s ruling party. According to his mother, none of it has reached him.
The reaction has been substantial and has come from several directions. A Republican congressman wrote to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman questioning whether the league should allow the appearance, Czech great Dominik Hasek called for Ovechkin to be barred from entering Canada and the United States, and ESPN’s Robert Klemko pressed him on it until the Washington Capitals captain ended the interview and walked away.
Alexander Ovechkin criticism
Tatyana Ovechkina, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist for the Soviet Union, said her son simply isn’t engaging with any of it.
“He pays no attention to all this criticism. I ask him about it, and he answers: ‘Mom, I don’t read any of this. Let them write what they want,'” she said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
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That tracks with how the 41-year-old has handled the questions himself. Speaking to reporters in Washington last week, Ovechkin repeatedly returned to the same explanation, saying he took part because he is Russian and intends to live in the country after his playing career ends.
“I’m surprised, but it is nothing you can change right now. I’m Russian, I’m gonna live there when I’m done. My kids gonna be there. My family’s gonna be there, you know, I support my country. That’s it,” Ovechkin said.
He also told reporters that he never informed the Capitals he was taking part in the video, which was filmed roughly three weeks before it surfaced.
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