Tornike Shengelia: 'I wasn't the same player, the same person in CSKA' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix

Tornike Shengelia left CSKA Moscow for Virtus Segafredo Bologna due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

2-pointers this season

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The outgoing war made him reconsider his thoughts and realize, as he pointed out to the Gazzetta.gr, that in Moscow he was neither the same man nor the same player as in the past.

The Georgian power forward sat down with Michalis Gioulenoglou of gazzetta.gr to talk about the period in Russia, the determination to join Virtus, and the next campaign.

Firstly, Shengelia opened up about his decision to leave Moscow.

"Everyone says it was a difficult or big decision, but it was not. First of all, I felt that my family was threatened, even though the war was not in Moscow. With war you never know what will occur, one second is enough for something to happen.

The first thing I wanted to do was to send my family away and then I made the decision to depart too," spoke the 30-year-old.

Asked if the fact that he is from Georgia, a country that once belonged to the Soviet Union, played a role in his decision, Shengelia agreed without too much thinking.

"Of course, the fact that I am from Georgia played an important role in my decision. Someone may ask me, why did I go to compete in Russia? CSKA offered me a contract and I did not make the decision to say 'yes' until they added a condition that I could play for the Georgian NT. For me, it is very important.

Moreover, CSKA are one of the top clubs in Europe, while the idea to win the EuroLeague was attractive for me. That was my goal as well.

Now, I realized that it was not such a good move to go there. Although everyone: the president, coaches, my teammates did everything in their power to make me feel comfortable in the club, I could not be myself. I was not the same player, the same person. I was always trying to do my best, but emotionally I was not there," Shengelia revealed.

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Regarding various sports federations' decision to expel Russian teams from the competitions, the big man was straightforward. As he said, the war is one of the cases where politics and sports should not be separated.

"As much as we want to say that politics and sports are not the same and should not be blended together, in some situations, it is not possible. And this is such a situation. It concerns not only sport but the unity of all organizations and countries that have taken a unanimous decision.

I cannot say that I am satisfied because I know that many people in sports organizations are not in favor of war, but right now, if you ask me who is suffering, I will answer that it is the people in Ukraine and not the members of sports organizations."

Last but not least, Toko Shengelia talked about Virtus Bologna and the plans for the next season.

"Virtus were one of the first teams that approached me and my representatives. I watched them playing in the EuroCup. I liked the way they play. Players and the coach were elements that made the decision even easier. On top of that, I always wanted to compete in Italy at some point in my career and this was a perfect opportunity," the Georgian admitted.

"I keep my choices open (regarding next season and Barca's rumors). There have been so many emotions in the last few weeks that I did not want to commit in the long run, based on those emotions. I will stay in Bologna until the end of the season and then we will see what happens."

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