Russian athletes are all over the world, competing in international sports and for teams in other countries. There’s been some confusion about what various sports should do about that in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most sports are condemning Russia but expressing sympathy for both Russian and Ukrainian athletes. The NHL has suspended all of their partnerships with Russia and Russian businesses, and paused all of their Russian-language digital media, but Russian athletes working on NHL teams will still be allowed to play. Other sports are following a similar path.
In tennis, there are many prominent Ukrainian and Russian athletes, which might explain why tennis’s governing bodies were somewhat slow to make a move. It wasn’t until the Ukrainian players spoke out on Monday, on social media, that statements were issued and moves were made. The Ukrainian players – like Elina Svitolina, a top-ten player and one of the most famous Ukrainian athletes in the world – came up with the solution, which mirrored the moves made by the International Olympic Committee: Russian athletes should still be able to compete internationally, but not “under” the Russian flag. As in, none of the Russian players will be identified as Russians in any tennis materials. The Ukrainian players also asked that the tennis tour cancel all upcoming events in Russia. I thought those demands were perfectly reasonable, and so did tennis’s governing bodies. From the joint statement from the WTA, ATP and ITP:
A deep sense of distress, shock and sadness has been felt across the entire tennis community following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the past week. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and we commend the many tennis players who have spoken out and taken action against this unacceptable act of aggression. We echo their calls for the violence to end and peace to return.
The safety of the tennis community is our most immediate collective priority. The focus of the WTA and ATP in particular in recent days has been on contacting current and former players, and other members of the tennis community from Ukraine and neighboring countries, to check on their safety and offer any assistance. The international governing bodies of tennis stand united in our condemnation of Russia’s actions and, as a result, are in agreement with the following decisions and actions:
The WTA and ATP Boards have made the decision to suspend the WTA / ATP combined event, scheduled this October in Moscow.
The ITF Board has made the decision to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation membership and to withdraw their entries from all ITF international team competition until further notice. This action follows the cancellation of all ITF tournaments in Russia and Belarus indefinitely.
At this time, players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice.
While it’s a big deal, it’s also sort of not, right? This was not the Ukrainians asking for Russian athletes to be banned, which is what some idiots believed. This is about a symbolic punishment for Russia and Belarus: your athletes don’t get to play for Russia, under the Russian flag (or Belarussian flag).
I didn’t expect the Russian tennis players to say much either way, considering they all have families and loved ones back home in Russia and they must all be living in a lot of fear too. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many Russian tennis players specifically have made anti-war, anti-invasion statements.
I’m including an on-court interview from Elina Svitolina from last night. She’s playing in Mexico, and she beat a Russian player in her first match of the week. Elina’s voice breaking when she spoke about Ukraine… it broke my heart and made me tear up.
"No war please."
That's what Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev wrote on an actual camera after winning his match today. pic.twitter.com/1vnO1tmH7u
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) February 25, 2022
“I was on a mission for my country.”
— Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina after defeating Russian Anastasia Potapova at the Monterrey Open last night. Svitolina says all the prize money she earns there “is going to the Ukrainian army.” pic.twitter.com/r6U68K7Jhc
— The Recount (@therecount) March 2, 2022
✊🏼🇺🇦 #Ukraine #Україна #StandWithUkriane pic.twitter.com/1LT4WjrYI9
— Elina Monfils (@ElinaSvitolina) February 28, 2022
Photos courtesy of Instagram.
Beautiful statement. Brava! 🇺🇦🌻
I think that was a fair resolution. And wow on donating the prize $$ to the army. The more I learn about the Ukrainian people the more I wonder why anyone would be stupid enough to mess with them. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🌻🌻🌻
Such a difficult position to be in. For all of these athletes. The NHL stated that individual Russian and Belarusian players who play for NHL clubs are being harassed. And athletes have families in Russia and Belarus who could be punished if they say the wrong thing. Even asking for peace is dangerous for them. Banning national teams, flags, and countries is good. But expecting individual athletes to make a political statement is not.
People don’t realize what a privilege it is to be a citizen of a country where you can criticize the government and not have to worry about whether your family will be imprisoned or killed because of something you said. Russian people do not have that privilege. Thousands of Russians have been jailed for protesting. Many of them have probably been killed.
Yes, brava.
My ISP notified us yesterday that for the next month phone calls to the Ukraine are free. It’s a nice gesture, although I’m not sure who still makes phone calls, when Skype/FaceTime are free. But it got me thinking about how there are many travesties across the world that do not bring out this level of global support. And part of it I realize is that it feels incredibly familiar and scary to those of us who lived through the Cold War, and part I think is that it’s been a long time since we’ve had something that was such a clear cut case of right and wrong. We spent two decades fighting nations that were minimally involved in 9/11, and ultimately accomplished very little in regards to tamping down militant extremism. But Putin gives us an easy to identify, universally despised evil.
I do make phone calls.. I hate facetime or whatever… My mom has an old phone , not an Iphone… So, yeah…
Love her heart! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
I was interested to see what Vika Azarenka had to say since she is arguably the most famous Belorussian on the WTA. She issued a statement and it was fine. I’m sure she’s in a difficult position too.
Elina made me cry a couple of times during her interview with itv. She looked drained during her match but still got it done. Hope her relatives and friends are okay