Italy's Daniel Grassl has trained for the European Figure Skating Championships in Espoo under the guidance of controversial Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze in Moscow ©Getty Images

Italian figure skater Daniel Grassl has trained with controversial Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze in the build-up to the European Figure Skating Championships in Espoo, and has travelled to the Finnish city with two affiliated coaches.

Grassl won silver in the men's singles at last year's European Championships, and decided to prepare for this year's event in Moscow with Tutberidze, the figure skating head coach of the Sambo-70 school.

Tutberidze has faced criticism for the short careers of athletes she has coached, and came under heavy scrutiny at last year's Winter Olympics in Beijing for her treatment of then-15-year-old Kamila Valieva.

Russian athletes and their Belarusian counterparts are unable to take part at the European Championships because of the war in Ukraine, but Daniil Gleikhengauz and Sergey Dudakov - coaches of Tutberidze's group - have been pictured with Grassl in Espoo.

He required a 12-hour journey to Espoo via Istanbul because of restrictions on international travel between Russia and most of Europe.

Grassl defended his decision to Italian broadcaster Rai by claiming "sports is not politics".

The Italian Ice Sports Federation (FISG) reportedly approved Grassl's preparation for the Championships under the guidance of Tutberidze.

Russian coach Tatyana Tarasova told Russia's official state agency TASS that "it is clear that the Italian Federation was not against it".

The International Skating Union declined to comment on Tutberidze's involvement in Grassl's preparations.

insidethegames has also asked the FISG and the International Skating Union for a comment.

Tutberidze was criticised at Beijing 2022 for her treatment of Valieva, asking her "why did you let it go?" and "why did you stop fighting?" after the favourite made a series of errors in the free skating to finish fourth.

Valieva helped the Russian Olympic Committee to win gold in the team event at Beijing 2022, but was at the centre of a doping scandal exclusively revealed by insidethegames, which led to her only being permitted to compete in the women's singles by a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel.

The medal ceremony is still yet to take place for the team event while the case is ongoing, with the World Anti-Doping Agency planning to take it to CAS after a Russian Anti-Doping Agency Disciplinary Committee ruled Valieva had committed an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for trimetazidine but was not to blame for it.

Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze, left, was heavily criticised for her treatment of figure skater Kamila Valieva, right, at 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing ©Getty Images
Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze, left, was heavily criticised for her treatment of figure skater Kamila Valieva, right, at 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing ©Getty Images

Tutberidze's conduct at Beijing 2022 even prompted a rare rebuke from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who claimed "it was chilling to see" Valieva received with "tremendous coldness" by her "closest entourage".

Grassl was adamant that Tutberidze played no role in the doping controversy.

"I think the coach has nothing to do with it," he told Rai.

Medal events at the European Championships are due to run until Saturday (January 29).