Iga Swiatek takes stance against lifting ban on Russian and Belarusian players
Iga Swiatek (Source – Twitter)
Polish Tennis star Iga Swiatek feels that tennis could have done better when the players from Russia and Belarusia were banned from Wimbledon in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but were allowed to compete elsewhere on the ATP and WTA Tours under a neutral flag.
The 21-year-old said that sports have been used as propaganda and also added that it would be unfair for the players of both countries as she believes that the decision was supposed to be made a year ago. “I heard that after World War Two, German players were not allowed as well as Japanese and Italian, and I feel like this kind of thing would show the Russian government that maybe it’s not worth it,” Swiatek told BBC.
“I know it’s a small thing because we are just athletes, a little piece in the world but I feel like sport is pretty important and sport has always been used in propaganda. This is something that was considered at the beginning, tennis didn’t really go that way, but now it would be pretty unfair for Russian and Belarusian players to do that because this decision was supposed to be made a year ago,” she further added.
‘It’s easy to say that but when you’re facing people face to face…’ – Swiatek
As the top-ranked player in the women’s game, Swiatek said she has players “approaching” her for help and advice on the issue. She said that there was a “lack of leadership” from the WTA and ATP after the war started and, as a result, tennis was in a “chaotic place”.
“I feel like tennis, from the beginning, could do a bit better in showing everybody that tennis players are against the war. I feel they could do more to make that point and tell their views, and help us cope a bit better in the locker room because the atmosphere there is pretty tense,” she said.
“It’s easy to say that but when you’re facing people face to face it’s a little bit different. I did shake hands, for example, with Daria Kasatkina – she openly said that she’s against the war at the beginning and it would be her dream for the war to finish,” she added.
