Gloucester Rugby have apologised for the use of a Russian flag on one of their players shirts and say it won’t be displayed going forward.
The club have included national flags on the rugby union Premiership kits for their international’s – including Russian prop Kirill Gotovtsev.
Russia has been banned from international and cross-border competition by World Rugby since 2022 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, Gloucester Rugby said: “We remain entirely supportive of World Rugby’s 2022 sanction regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Kirill fully co-operated with the requirements of World Rugby, and DCMS, at that time and continues to do so.
Following further internal discussion and with Kirill’s blessing, the Club has decided to continue to recognise those who have caps for their country on Gloucester Rugby Premiership jerseys – as has been the case since 2015. Kirill’s national flag will not appear on his shirt in-line with the sanctions imposed. We understand the connotations of the flag in question and apologise for any offence this may have caused.
Finally, the Club is aware of ongoing commentary regarding this matter and would like to express its deep distain for all forms of racism, and any individual expressing those views will not be welcome at Kingsholm.
For the avoidance of doubt, in line with all European games this season, the flags will not appear on the shirts this weekend.
Gloucester Rugby will make no further comment.”