Nadezhda Karpova

Nadezhda Karpova, football player of the Russian women’s national team, who is also the ambassador of the Adidas brand in Russia, gave an interview to the BBC (blocked in Russia), where she came out – Karpova became the first professional athlete from Russia. Talk about your homosexuality.

The 27-year-old athlete has lived in Barcelona for five years, playing for Spanish club Espanyol. Karpova noted that one of the reasons for her relocation from Russia was the different attitude towards gays and lesbians in Europe: in Spain it does not face condemnation, in Russia there is a law prohibiting homosexual propaganda.

Nadya Karpova with a girl

The athlete admitted that she hid that she was a lesbian for a long time: she even told her mother about it a year ago.

Nadya Karpova recalled that the owner of the Rossiyanka club tried to persuade her father to sign a contract, and at the same time promised her that they would “take care” of her lesbian daughter.

According to the athlete, his father stood up for him.

Citing Maxim Galkin as an example, he noted that in Russia today homosexuality is used as a means of discrediting. In an interview, Karpova also condemned the military special operation and spoke about Russian propaganda designed to convince Russians of the correctness of the government’s actions.

– said.

Karpova added that she had attended two rallies, including in support of Alexei Navalny, but believed she had not done enough, and that those who justified military special operations were “hostages of propaganda.”

The football player spoke out against the military special operation of the Russian Federation in February – he became one of the few Russian athletes who publicly condemned the military special operation. At the end of the interview, Karpova added that unlike most Russian athletes, her activities have nothing to do with the Russian government. Despite this, he expressed hope that there will be more athletes in Russia who are not afraid to speak up.