Georgian football star rejects reporter’s request to speak Russian - video

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian-born winger, was one of the heroes of the final. The 25-year-old Tbilisi native scored a second-half penalty to level the match, sending it into extra time.

In the post-match mixed-zone interview, a reporter asked Kvaratskhelia to discuss his emotions in Russian, but the winger rebuffed the request.

- “Khvicha, can you talk about your emotions in Russian? After all-” the reporter asked in Georgian.

- “No, I can’t speak, sorry,” Kvaratskhelia replied in English, before switching to Georgian for the rest of the interview.

The footballer earlier played for Moscow’s Lokomotiv and Kazan’s Rubin between 2019 and 2022. Following the invasion of Ukraine, he left Russia and returned to Georgia, where he spent six months playing for Batumi’s Dynamo.

Kvaratskhelia was named the Champions League Player of the Season. He played 16 matches for the club, scoring ten goals and providing six assists.

PSG won the Champions League for the second time in a row. Last year, Luis Enrique’s team defeated Inter Milan 5-0 in the final.

Ilya Zabarnyi became the fourth Ukrainian to win the Champions League.