Czech police stopped a Russian tennis player from entering the country ahead of the WTA Prague Open tournament, organisers said on Friday, as a new government resolution banning athletes from Russia or Belarus caused the event to scratch other competitors.
Why do you think this?
Many of these athletes don’t even agree with the war and many are public about this disagreement.
Even the Olympics allows these athletes to perform under a none disclosed flag.
Why should Russian and Belarusian athletes be punished individually for the actions of their countries government?
I’ll point you to Wimbledon this year where Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was unfairly boo’d off court after her loss with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. Azarenka has been openly against the war since it started. Why should she be punished?
Apparently this is how things are. It is a shame to see how individual responsibility, very valuable European value, is treated recently by some Europeans . But it looks like this is the reality of war. Things are not normal. Hopefully they will get back to normal someday soon.
I am Belarusian, I migrated with my family away from Belarus few years back in fear of politically motivated prosecution, before even the war begun. I had to experience this kind of attitude, my bank accounts were frozen for some time and there are still limitations to get a medical insurance. Surprisingly I never ever heard a bad word from Ukrainians themselves living here. They are amazingly understanding.
That said, I believe sport is bit different. At top level the athletes are often representatives of their countries. At international level sport is neatly intertwined with politics (especially so in post-USSR countries). So… yeah… that’s bad, but as Belarusian I fully support ban of Belarusian athletes from international competition, purely from respect to Ukrainian athletes, who shouldn’t be forced to shake hands with them. Also I keep supporting all sorts of sanction towards Belarusian and Russian regimes, even though it can inconvenience me as a side effect.
I also do not understand, typical keyboard warriors. Maybe we should also ban everyone with russian nationality from playing sports all together, ban them from supermarkets, gas stations… After all, this war was a consensual decision from every citizen.