Russian footballer asked if she’s a lesbian in bizarre interview
DEVENTER, NETHERLANDS – JULY 21: Nadezhda Karpova of Russia looks on before during the Group B match between Sweden and Russia during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 at Stadion De Adelaarshorst on July 21, 2017 in Deventer, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
A Russian footballer has been asked whether she is a lesbian in a strange interview published by a blogger.
The interview was published on sports.ru and featured Russia forward Nadezhda Karpova, 22, who signed recently to Valencia.
Karpova is asked in the interview whether she has a boyfriend.
The interviewer asks: “As far as I know, I have never heard of you having a boyfriend.”
The footballer replies quickly saying she is a professional athlete and isn’t on a reality TV show.
But the interviewer asks again whether she has a boyfriend and when she says that she doesn’t at the moment, the interviewer asks if there are any lesbians in Russian football.
Karpova says she doesn’t know of any but says she doesn’t spend social time with any other footballers.
Then, after the interviewer says the next question will be their last, they ask her: “Are you a lesbian?”
She replies: “No. I never have been. Why is this so intriguing to everyone? What is this gimmick? In Russia they love money and personal life, or is it like this everywhere?”
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Karpova is described in the interview as “the main reason to follow women’s football”.
In the interview she is also asked whether she would rather abstain from sex or abstain from football for a year.
Karpova was part of the Russia squad for the 2019 FIFA World Cup qualifying match but she was not brought on to play.
LGBT people in Russia still face discrimination.
In 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill which bans the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors.
The Russian government earlier this year vowed to appeal against a European Court of Human Rights ruling over the gay ‘propaganda’ law.
Last year, Russian MPs called for football video game FIFA 17 to be banned because it allowed players to take part in the rainbow laces campaign.
