Gloucester have apologised for the use of a Russian flag on prop Kirill Gotovtsev’s club shirt and said it will no longer be featured going forward.
Since 2015, the club has included national flags on the Premiership shirts of any player who has been internationally capped.
But a Gloucester statement on Wednesday said that following “internal discussion and Kirill’s blessing” the Russian flag will no longer appear on 37-year-old Gotovtsev’s shirt, while other nations will continue to be recognised.
Russia has been banned from international and cross-border competition by World Rugby since 2022 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We remain entirely supportive of World Rugby’s 2022 sanction regarding the conflict in Ukraine,” the club statement, external said.
“Kirill fully co-operated with the requirements of World Rugby and DCMS [Department for Culture, Media and Sport] at that time and continues to do so.
“Kirill’s national flag will not appear on his shirt in line with the sanctions. We understand the connotations of the flag in question and apologise for any offence this may have caused.”
