– You can see that your criticism is stressed by… – one of the journalists began the question. – Stress me? Sorry, I must have misheard – the former Zenit player replied.
Ponitka condemned the Russian war
But on Monday he was actually stressed out, tense. And he was extremely concentrated – he had a stack of notes on the table, he wanted to explain the story behind his departure from Russia.
Last week he was the captain of Gazprom’s Zenit. The club’s authorities announced that Ponitka, along with several other basketball players, “returned from a short vacation” and is ready to play. The Pole appeared in last week’s clash in Moscow with CSKA.
The captain of the Polish national team was thundered, all the more so because the communication silence was hurting his ears – Ponitka neither condemned Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, nor declared his will to leave the club belonging to the Russian invader.
He started the Monday conference with the most important. – I am against Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. War is a great evil. I support Ukrainians mentally and materially. A state that is independent should remain so, he said.
And he added that from the beginning he was determined to leave Russia. – From February 24, I was looking for a way to terminate the contract. The situation in St. Petersburg was strange, we did not feel safe in this city.
At the end of February, the club gave foreign basketball players a few days to take care of their families. Then the captain of the staff took the family – wife, child, mother-in-law and domestic animals – to Poland. But he himself had to come back after a few days: he was still bound by a two-and-a-half-year contract.
– We all played in the match against CSKA Moscow (March 14 – ed.). But after returning to Petersburg it was obvious that mentally, mentally, we are not able to overcome it. It’s good that I was wearing a mask that protected my nose, I couldn’t see my emotions – said Ponitka. And he added: – After the game I talked to the coach and the club manager. I said that I was unable to meet the obligations of the game. That we have to sit down at the table and find a way to end the contract.
Another episode of the brutal conflict
The communication silence resulted – it is understandable – from fear. – During the protests in St. Petersburg, the services detained even 80-year-old war veterans who protested against the invasion of Ukraine – the captain of the Polish national team reasonably explained.
The contract was terminated last Friday, and the Ministry of Sport tried to help. Ponitka is safe and contract-free in Poland. On the occasion, however, he got hit – he had to accept criticism from fans, journalists, but also colleagues from the dance floor.
On Monday – unfortunately – the captain of the Polish national team focused on avoiding the critics.
, he answered a long time, he was prepared. He drew quotes from a decade ago, calling the former NBA player and former dance floor colleague “Mr. Gortat”.
This is another episode of the embarrassing fans of the conflict in Polish basketball. The environment has been divided for years, and its most important figures are at odds – on the one hand and Adam Waczyński, on the other, Ponitka and Radosław Piesiewicz, and there is also a conflict between Mateusz Ponitka and his brother Marcel.
And although Ponitka factually translated the contractual lobbies in Russia, his tactics towards. Ponitka had to answer questions as to whether and when he shook Gortat’s hand, or whether he would agree to play with his brother in one team. But he himself – and consciously – provoked questions.
Radosław Piesiewicz, who was present at the conference, also joined the tirade, which lasted several minutes. – You can be the king of Twitter, like Mr. Gortat, or the king of the dance floor – like Mateusz Ponitka – he said. At the end, Ponitka also turned extremely brutally. – I took part in NBA training. I know what the scouting process looks like. I am not surprised that Marcin Gortat has the nickname he has, which is Polish Hammer.
Gortat is also not without fault – Ponitka, who was in an extremely difficult situation, assessed expressly, he wrote a lot about his attitude, he shot blindly – which was rightly reminded by activists, but also fans.
Ponitka is unemployed at the moment, but – as he himself admitted – he started thinking about playing basketball only today. He misses basketball, he would like to play this season, but if he is not mentally ready – he will give himself a few months off from professional basketball.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
