Coventry Bees boss Alun Rossiter has hit back at comments made by the manager of Swedish side Piraterna Stefan Andersson after the Bees signed Russian rider Emil Sayfutdinov.
Andersson was deeply annoyed that Sayfutdihov was coming to Coventry to ride in the British Elite League after being due to ride in a limited programme of fixtures for Piraternai.
Andersson slammed the British Elite League, reportedly describing it as “barely Allsvenskan (Swedish second division) level” and saying that Sayfutdinov’s signing for Coventry was a great betrayal of us as a club.
Andersson was deeply annoyed that Sayfutdihov was coming to Coventry to ride in the British Elite League after being due to ride in a limited programme of fixtures for Piraternai.
Andersson slammed the British Elite League, reportedly describing it as “barely Allsvenskan (Swedish second division) level” and saying that Sayfutdinov’s signing for Coventry was a great betrayal of us as a club.
Speaking to the Bees website, Alun Rossiter said: “Emil is coming to England for the same reason as every other former and current World Champions have done. He has the ability, the equipment and the team around him to win the World title, but now he needs to add the experience of riding in England.
“I believe that he will win the World Championship within the next three years, and by making this choice he will move closer to fulfilling his dreams. At Coventry, we will encourage and help him as much as we can to do that.
“I read Stefan Andersson’s press release and I fully understand his frustration, but he needs to look at the situation from Emil’s point of view, and if you take a second to do that then it’s a no-brainer for him.
“Coming to England is not about the money, it’s about giving himself new technical challenges on different circuits which will help him become more of an all-round rider. He’ll be looked after at Coventry, we’ll do all we can to help him, and we can’t wait to welcome him to the club.
“The reaction we’ve had from our supporters is fantastic, and I also see there have been some comments elsewhere about us signing a Grand Prix rider after going in a different direction earlier in the winter.
“Obviously things have changed since then and you can’t legislate for injury, but looking at our crowds so far and with the economic climate I do wonder whether Elite League racing once a fortnight or thereabouts is the way to go in this country anyway.
”Our crowds have held up really well at Coventry this year, and I think we probably have the right number of fixtures in the league now – and it might also encourage others to make a similar decision to Emil.”
“I believe that he will win the World Championship within the next three years, and by making this choice he will move closer to fulfilling his dreams. At Coventry, we will encourage and help him as much as we can to do that.
“I read Stefan Andersson’s press release and I fully understand his frustration, but he needs to look at the situation from Emil’s point of view, and if you take a second to do that then it’s a no-brainer for him.
“Coming to England is not about the money, it’s about giving himself new technical challenges on different circuits which will help him become more of an all-round rider. He’ll be looked after at Coventry, we’ll do all we can to help him, and we can’t wait to welcome him to the club.
“The reaction we’ve had from our supporters is fantastic, and I also see there have been some comments elsewhere about us signing a Grand Prix rider after going in a different direction earlier in the winter.
“Obviously things have changed since then and you can’t legislate for injury, but looking at our crowds so far and with the economic climate I do wonder whether Elite League racing once a fortnight or thereabouts is the way to go in this country anyway.
”Our crowds have held up really well at Coventry this year, and I think we probably have the right number of fixtures in the league now – and it might also encourage others to make a similar decision to Emil.”