Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, would have banned tennis players from Russia and Belarus from playing due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began more than a year ago. The Pole recalled the policy adopted against athletes from countries belonging to the Axis Powers after World War II to defend that they should have had a stronger hand.
The 21-year-old from Warsaw blamed the tennis players from those two countries, unrelated to the war, but argued that "sport has always been used as propaganda." "I know it's a small part, because we're just athletes, but I think sport is very important," the winner of three Grand Slams, two Roland Garros and one US Open explained to the BBC.
"I have read that after the Second World War, the Germans, like the Japanese and the Italians, could not play, and I think that a similar policy now would have shown the Russian government that it is not worth it," he explained about a ban that in tennis only applied last year at the All England Club in London.
Wimbledon was the only tournament that did not allow the entry of Russian and Belarusian players, which earned it heavy economic sanctions, of up to 2 million euros, by the large tennis organizations. This year, the English Grand Slam has been rectified and will allow tennis players of these nationalities to play under a neutral flag, as in the rest of the tournaments on the circuit.
On the other hand, in other collective sports, the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams has been prohibited. In football competitions under the umbrella of UEFA, the teams from these territories are banned, as well as in the Euroleague basketball, which is the most important continental competition and where Russian teams have historically been very important.
"Now it would be unfair to do it, because the decision should have been taken a year ago. It's not the fault of these players that they have a Russian or Belarusian passport, but I think it would have helped to stop the Russian aggression," added Swiatek. The second in the WTA ranking is the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, while in the eighth position is the Russian Daria Kasatkina. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are the two Russian representatives of the 'top ten' for men.
