Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk was detained at Krakow airport on the evening of September 17 due to a dispute with the airport service.
Polish promoter Andrzej Wasilewskiy told Przeglad Sportowy about this with reference to Usykʼs manager Oleksandr Krasyuk.
According to reports, Usyk drove a car from Kyiv to Krakow, from where he was going to fly to a training camp in Spain. However, for reasons unknown to his team, the services did not want to let his friend board the plane. Usyk allegedly declared that he would not fly himself and was against the detention of his friend. As a result, both were detained.
Subsequently, ESPN, citing a source, reported that Wasilewskiyʼs message was about Usykʼs coach Serhii Lapin. Airport officials refused to board the plane, claiming that their condition was "unfit for air travel." Despite Usykʼs efforts to explain that everything is fine with them and they were tired after the 14-hour trip from Kyiv, they were detained due to the language barrier and the boxerʼs categorical attitude.
Lapin himself commented on the situation regarding the detention. He said that the employees of the customs control "exceeded their powers".
What happened
Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk was detained at Krakow airport on the evening of September 17. Later he was released.
According to the boxer, there was a misunderstanding. He expressed respect for Polish law enforcement officers, "who perform their duties, despite their height, weight, arms and regalia."
After Usykʼs arrest, his wife Kateryna reported that "everything is fine" and "nothing criminal happened."
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky also commented on the incident. He stated that he instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sibiza and the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko to find out all the details of the incident at the Krakow airport.
"I was outraged by such treatment of our citizen and champion," the president said.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhiy Tykhyi, also reacted to the detention of Oleksandr Usyk at Krakow airport in a comment to Babel.
"The Consul General of Ukraine in Krakow has already urgently left for the airport to find out the circumstances of the situation. The Ukrainian side categorically does not accept the attitude shown in the video towards its citizen and champion," he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha will contact his Polish colleague Radoslaw Sikorskiy to resolve the situation. The Minister also instructed the Consul General to express his protest and indignation at this attitude.