Gloucester will remove the Russia flag from the back of Kirill Gotovtsev’s shirt for all matches moving forward and have issued an apology “for any offence this may have caused”.

Gloucester Rugby has been forced to remove a Russian flag from the shirt of one of their players after a complaint from a fan. The Cherry and Whites have operated a policy, since 2015, of rewarding their international stars with the flag of their Test nation on their club shirt.

The West Country club have apologised for any offence caused by Kirill Gotovtsev's jersey and have acted swiftly to prevent a repeat incident.

Gloucester have been criticised by their own fans for printing the Russian flag on the back of Kirill Gotovtsev’s shirt in contravention of the country’s widespread ostracism from international sport.

Alongside World Rugby's ban on Russian representation, Gloucester Rugby's belated move also brings the club into line with tennis: since 2023, Wimbledon has insisted that Russian and Belarusian tennis players play as neutral athletes.

Gotovtsev joined Gloucester in 2021 and has since played with the Russian flag on his shirt, in line with the club's policy, which since 2015 has allowed its foreign players to wear caps for their country on their Premiership jerseys.

Gloucester have confirmed they will remove the Russian flag displayed on prop Kirill Gotovtsev’s jersey following backlash on social media, and will also remove all flags on jerseys for this weekend’s clash with the Scarlets.