British canoeist laments after being banned for operating 'Only Fans' account
Canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals, who competes in the individual canoe slalom, was suspended in April by governing body Paddle UK following "allegations" about his posts on social media
A British canoeist who has been banned from competing in the sport says he is being forced to choose between his Olympic dream and his OnlyFans account which he contends makes him enough money to fund his career.
Canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals, who competes in the individual canoe slalom, was suspended in April by governing body Paddle UK following "allegations" about his posts on social media, the BBC reports.
Paddle UK removed Rozentals from their World Class Sport's lottery-funded programme to help athletes prepare for the Olympics, pending an investigation.
According to the victim, Paddle UK have refused to clarify the nature of the allegations, but Rozentals, according to the BBC, believes it is due to him creating content on subscription website OnlyFans, which is known for hosting adult content.
"I have been posting videos on Instagram that are consciously made to be edgy in order to drive conversions to my 'spicy content page' (on OnlyFans), to fund this ultimate dream of going to the Olympics," he told BBC Sport.
Rozentals, who has more than 10,000 'likes' on OnlyFans, has posted 39 videos and over 100 photos on the website. He says he has earned more than £100,000 (Sh17.4 million) since creating his OnlyFans account in January.
He said he received a call from a Paddle UK representative last month to tell him that he was suspended from competing and could no longer contact any of the staff or athletes on the programme.
"I kind of froze and I couldn't believe the words I was hearing because this is what I put my life into this is everything I do," Rozentals said in his response to the ban.
Social media management in sports is not a new concept. Generally, sportsmen around the world are handed very stringent social media policies in order to guide their online activity in the face of connection to major competitions and sport ruling bodies as well as their standing in society.
NBA star Ja Morant for example, has twice been suspended by the NBA for showing a handgun on social media.
He was banned for eight games without pay in March 2023 for brandishing a firearm in an Instagram Live video.
He was handed a 75,000 USD fine in April this year for repeating the offence using his hand.
