Rusophobic manifestations in sports, unfortunately, are not uncommon. In the past few years, our athletes in the international arena, if they perform where, are most often in inferior status – without national symbols. Moreover, in some cases, Russophobia also applies to athletes from other countries who have at least some kind of relation to Russia.

At the children’s judo tournament, the mother of one of the participants motivated her son, recalling that he was fighting the Russian.

Russophobic support

On May 17, a children’s judo tournament “Young Stars 2025” was held in Riga, in which athletes were attended by athletes of 8-11 years. Local starts could hardly attract great attention to the public outside Latvia, but the mother of one of the participants tried hard so that the video with the fight of her son was encouraged.

In the tatami, nothing supernatural happened. The young judoka tried to take a throw, but failed and ended up under the opponent. After stopping the fight, he rose to his feet with tears in his eyes. Perhaps it is understandable to the mother’s desire to cheer up the child. But it would be better if she said nothing.

– Everything is fine, everything is fine, wipe the tears! Hold the grip, wipe the tears! This is Russian, stop being lazy! – Such a monologue on Latvian was heard next to the tatami.

This did not help a lot, tears did not leave the face of a young athlete. But the speech with undisguised Russophobic notes outraged others. The woman in the Latvian language tried to explain her to the wrong way, but she did not even understand that it was reprehensible in her words.

Latvians in shock

The fact that Russophobia in Latvia is something close to the national idea is not news. You can’t even listen to local politicians proud that “they hated the Russians even before it became cool”, and pay attention to the fresh statements of athletes who once performed under the flag of the USSR. But even for this country, the situation at the children’s tournament has become something out of the ordinary.

The Latvian Federation of Judo made it clear that she did not support such an attitude towards participants in the competition. The deputy of the Riga Duma appealed to the state security service demanding to institute criminal proceedings, and the police intended to figure out if there were signs of inciting hatred.

True, there are doubts that the situation will turn out to be the glorious Sabina of Kozlovsky with something serious. And not only because her relatives play a role in local political circles. It’s just that the current Latvia is not very similar to the state, where the interests of the Russians are seriously taken into account. Nevertheless, it pleases that in simple Latvians such behavior does not enjoy great support. Comments in the spirit of “I am like a Latvian – in shock” and “this is the position of a specific stupid mother, and not society” have become an adequate reaction to the dubious behavior of a woman.

Latvian fans / Photo: © Europa Press Sports / Contributor / Europa Press / Gettyimages.ru

And those who consider the words of the fan are appropriate, it would be worth realizing that this guy and thousands of other Russian guys are actually the country’s national sports reserve. And if they treat them like second -class people, will these athletes want to glorify the flag of this country in international competitions in the future?