Varlamov, Voynov, And Domestic Violence In Sports

By Emily Redenbach
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Updated: July 3, 2015

(Photo via Twitter User ‏@LarryAltman)

When details of LA Kings defenseman Slava Voynov‘s arrest started to emerge, it was an eerily familiar story. A Russian NHL player was arrested on suspicion of physically assaulting his model wife. Said wife speaks very little English and requires a Russian translator. The player was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the assault. Evidence that this wasn’t the first instance of abuse came to light. Feel like you’ve read this story before? On October 30th, 2013, Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov was arrested for assault on his girlfriend, also a Russian model who alleged that Varlamov threw her into a wall and began to stomp on her, dragged her around the house and threatened her. Officers said they saw bruising on her left forearm and right hip, and that he allegedly told her “If this were Russia, he would have beat her more.”

Unlike Marta Varlamova, (Voynov’s wife), Varlamov’s girlfriend Evgenia Vavinyuk has been adamant that Varlamov needed to be punished. “I want the American government to defend me,” she said. “I want everyone to know, all the fans to know, that he’s not the great Semyon Varlamov. Great people don’t beat up their women. They don’t give them concussions. They don’t belittle them, throw out like dogs. I want people to know this, that this man can be an animal.” And unlike Varlamova, Vavinyuk didn’t see justice from the police; the domestic violence case against Varlamov was dismissed without any official charges being filed. District attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough had the following statement regarding the prosecutors’ decision, per Gurman: “That’s not to say we don’t believe our victim. It became clear we didn’t have a belief we could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy, who has also been arrested for domestic violence in October 2000, said “It’s a law thing, and it’s important for me as a coach that I keep my focus on our team, and we keep our focus there.” (Roy’s case was later dismissed by the Arapahoe County judge, who ruled it fell short of the standard needed for misdemeanor criminal mischief during an act of domestic violence.)

The reaction from the NHL was night and day. Varlamov didn’t miss a single game during the period after his arrest and the courts dismissing the case. At the time, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league was “monitoring the developing legal situation and [did] not intend to intervene in that process.” Voynov, on the other hand, was suspended immediately, and the LA Kings didn’t even see any salary cap relief until he was officially charged with felony domestic violence charge on December 15th, almost two months after the first arrest. This signifies a positive move by the NHL, perhaps spurred by other major league sports reconsidering their stance on the issue since the NFL’s mishandling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case. The NFL set a new domestic violence policy in August of last year; it calls for a six-week suspension without pay for a first domestic violence offense and a lifetime ban for a second offense. The NBA, MLB and NHL do not have specific punishments for domestic violence in their collective bargaining agreements. In September last year the NBA reviewed their policy, which states that when a player is convicted of a violent felony (which could cover a myriad of charges) he will be suspended for a minimum of ten games. The NHL still doesn’t have a clear-cut rule for this situation, which the LA Kings are discovering as events in the courts unfold for Voynov. (For a detailed opinion piece on Voynov’s future with the league, see Dennis Bernstein’s piece.

On July 2nd, Voynov plead ‘no contest’ to the charges, and as part of the plea deal his charges were reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. He wills spend 90 days in jail, though more likely he’ll actually only be there for 45, with time off for good behavior. Additionally he will serve 8 hours community service and attend a 52 week domestic abuse training course. He remains suspended by th NHL; it’s unclear whether he has a career with the NHL any more. He shouldn’t face any deportation issues – that’s for another court to pursue but his lawyers think it’s unlikely. Either way – the LA Kings, facing other off ice issues with Jarret Stoll‘s cocaine charges in Vegas, and the termination of Mike Richard‘s contract for an ”incident’ at the Canadian border involving opiates without a prescription – can’t afford to keep Voynov on the books. They need to set an example that domestic violence – particularly repeated offenders – is not tolerated in the high standard of players they sign. It’s not an issue any professional sports organization should be soft on any more.

Varlamova insisted throughout the entire case that charges should not have been filed against her husband. (She did not pursue the case; the DA filed felony charges on her behalf. She refused to testify against him. She even uses Ray Rice as an excuse to advocate for Voynov. In a letter to the DA she says that she “heard about other athletes on the news” who have done worse things and were not charged. It’s a disturbing trend amongst the women in these cases – in every instance except for Vavinyuk, the woman in question has declined to go on the record against her partner, which makes it challenging to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and even when Vavinyuk did provide testimony, the athlete still avoided punishment. In every instance the man has claimed they didn’t do anything wrong. “I want to say women can’t allow men to abuse them,” Vavinyuk said. “You absolutely can’t stay quiet about it. I think I did the right thing by not staying silent. I wasn’t scared of his fame, his popularity,” she said. The domestic abuse hotline is 1-800-799-7233.

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