Valery Karpin, head coach of the Russian national football team, has addressed the controversy over his use of profanity during the halftime break of the match against Nicaragua. Responding to a question about whether he applies the methods of his mentor Oleg Romantsev or prefers a harsher approach, Karpin clarified his stance on swearing.
“Talking with profanity, yes,” Karpin said when asked about a YouTube video showing him speaking harshly in the locker room. He contrasted today’s openness with Romantsev’s era, noting that previously no one could enter the locker room. “We are for openness, we are the national team. We give interviews, open the locker room, people film and post it. In Romantsev’s time, you couldn’t even think about that. Only players and coaches were inside—plus the doctor and masseur. That’s it.”
Karpin defended the use of strong language, drawing a parallel with bleeped content on federal television. “I’m watching the series ‘Gold Bottom.’ Every time there’s a business dialogue, not a love scene, it’s bleeped. So what’s the problem? If we have series and movies bleeped on federal channels, why is swearing in a locker room an issue?”
He also addressed comparisons with legendary manager Alex Ferguson. “Ferguson raised his voice in the locker room, but they simply don’t have as many curse words as we do in Russian. You can say them anywhere. No other language in the world has such a variety of profanity. We can, if we want, speak entirely in swear words—not just insert them, but converse in them. In other languages, I think that’s impossible.”
Karpin emphasized that his remarks during the Nicaragua match contained no personal insults. “When there’s a situation and you need to add fire to a speech, what’s wrong with inserting profanity? That speech against Nicaragua had no personal insults. Someone apparently wanted it to be a trigger. I am against personal insults, and I never use them,” he concluded.
