British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals has hit out at Paddle UK after they banned him for posting an ‘explicit’ video on social media.
The governing body announced on Friday that Rozentals, 23, would serve a two-year ban for bringing the sport into ‘serious disrepute’.
A disciplinary panel found Rozentals, who competes in the individual canoe slalom, of gross misconduct after he uploading a video of himself performing ‘a sexual act on an aeroplane’.
Rozentals is now banned from all competition and training, while he has been deselected from the World Class Programme, which is funding athletes ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
Responding to the ban, Rozentals described the video in question as ‘edgy’ rather than ‘explicit’ and said it was a ‘very extreme’ decision from Paddle UK.
‘I think the outcome is very extreme,’ he told Sky News. ‘I’m only human. I make mistakes, but banning me for two years… I think it’s pretty wild.
‘It didn’t get removed by Instagram… it wasn’t explicit. It wasn’t anything that’s not suitable for Instagram.
‘In regards to the social media content, of course it’s not what they want their athletes to be ideally making… it’s obviously edgy content.
‘I understand that image that they [Paddle UK] want athletes to portray. And it does not align with [the] image that Paddle UK is trying to cultivate of professionalism and whatnot.
‘But also that doesn’t get views… that also doesn’t get that doesn’t drive attention… and that’s not going to drive sponsorships.’
Rozentals says he started making content on OnlyFans as the support he received for his sporting career was insufficient.
While he received a £16,000-a-year grant from Paddle UK, he earned more than £100,000 from his social media videos between January and May.
Governing body Paddle UK said Rozentals had ‘admitted posting an explicit video on their public Instagram profile which was subsequently removed given its explicit nature’.
It added that he breached its disciplinary policy relation to ‘indecent, offensive or immoral behaviour’ and ‘offensive use of social media’.
Rozentals says he ‘grew up with no money’ and being able to ‘treat my mum’ means ‘more to me’ than getting an Olympic medal.
However, he vowed to continue competing in the sport and said he would ‘make it the Olympics one way or another’.
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Asked whether he would give up his social media career to focus on canoeing and his Olympic dream, Rozentals added: ‘That’s tough because I grew up with no money.
‘I don’t care about money for money’s sake. However, now I’m blessed to be in a position where I can treat my mum, who sacrificed everything in her life to be able to give me the opportunities to chase this Olympic dream.
‘Just being able to give back… that means more to me than getting a medal. One way or another, I’ll make it to the Olympics.’
Paddle UK ended their statement on Rozentals by saying it is ‘committed to ensuring a safe and open environment for all’ and insisting ‘action under the Athlete Disciplinary Policy is taken where necessary and proportionate’.
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