Soviet Official Criticizes Athletes as ‘Greedy’A Soviet...

Soviet Official Criticizes Athletes as ‘Greedy’

A Soviet deputy sports minister attacked some of his nation’s athletes Thursday for being too interested in money, singling out tennis star Natalia Zvereva.

Alexander Kozlovsky said he is dismayed by the motivation of some athletes now competing outside the Soviet Union.

Kozlovsky held up Zvereva, seeded No. 1 in a Virginia Slims tennis tournament to be held in mid-October in Moscow, as an athlete too concerned with money. She has complained of having to give most of her winnings to the Soviet Tennis Federation.

“We speak much in this country now of social justice, so let’s discuss it in this case,” Kozlovsky said. “Zvereva is 18 now. When she was 13, she never asked where the money came from for her rackets, her travel. Now she is an adult and she wants to keep her money. Is that fair?”

Meanwhile, Kozlovsky said that the Soviet Olympic Committee has selected Sochi, a Black Sea resort town at the extreme southwestern tip of the Soviet Union, as its preferred site in bidding for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Formal bids must be made to the International Olympic Committee by Jan. 15. Other bids are expected by Salt Lake City and cities in Japan and Norway.