Nov 1 - Paddle UK announced that British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals received a two-year ban and was expelled from the Olympic training program for sharing an explicit video on Instagram and falsely informing reporters about the cause of his initial suspension.
The canoe slalom racer, who was a member of Paddle UK's World Class Programme for Olympic athletes, was initially suspended in April by the governing body and has now been removed from the elite program permanently.
Rozentals, a 23-year-old, previously stated that he had joined OnlyFans—a subscription platform, sometimes used for adult content, that allows users to monetize their posts—to share 'spicy' content to finance his Olympic aspirations.
However, a disciplinary investigation determined that he confessed to uploading an explicit video to Instagram, which was "subsequently removed given its explicit nature."
Paddle UK's statement revealed: "The athlete had intentionally misinformed the press that his suspension was related to his OnlyFans social media account."
The organization concluded that his actions constituted gross misconduct and subjected Paddle UK's reputation to "serious disrepute."
VERY EXTREME PUNISHMENT
While Paddle UK did not name him, Rozentals confirmed the "very extreme" penalty to BBC Sport, arguing that the ban would have been avoided if athletes received adequate funding.
As part of Paddle UK's World Class Programme, Rozentals received £16,000 (about $21,473.60) in training funds, but he claimed it was insufficient to support him as a full-time athlete.
He stated, "While I understand the video could be described as crazy, it was not illegal and certainly shouldn't be the reason for banning an athlete."
He reflected, "Looking back now, I probably wouldn't post something like that. But I remember the state of mind I was in when I did film it and post it."
He concluded, "It was the first time in my life I saw real progress in my financial situation. It was the first time I was able to fund the training myself."
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Source:- REUTERS
