The Ukrainian Tennis Federation demands the complete exclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus from international competitions. Officials draw attention to the Australian Open, where Putin’s supporters drew attention and the Belarusian representative won the women’s tournament.

“The Ukrainian Tennis Federation urges the international tennis community to pay attention to the public reaction to Arina Sobolenko’s victory at the Australian Open tennis championship.

We have repeatedly called for the ban on performances of all Russian and Belarusian athletes, without exception, in all world arenas. It’s not even about the athletes themselves, although many of them are active supporters of their totalitarian regimes and passionately support the bloody war against Ukraine, and some even officially serve in the armed forces. The main point we want to make is that the athletes of the aggressor states use all kinds of success to spread and praise their own systems and cannibalistic ideologies.

The example of Arina Sobolenko, who won the Australian Open, is proof of the validity of the above thesis. After the broadcast of the semi-finals and finals of the competition, which was pirated on the Belarusian national television channel and in itself violated international law, the self-proclaimed President Lukashenko boasts of the victory of the Belarusian tennis player and raises a glass to his success. He is not at all worried about Sobolenko playing under a neutral flag, as required by international tennis organizations. For him, as in principle, she represents Belarus and glorifies it.

The Australian Open has shown other examples of how no one leaves athletes without a flag from their country. The orgy, with Russian flags and photographs against the backdrop of portraits of the war criminal Putin, is another argument for changing bad decisions… These events clearly show that sport is not “non-political”. Rather, it personifies one of the political directions. It is used by regimes for propaganda purposes.

You may have different attitudes towards certain athletes from certain states. But how can the aggressor countries that shed blood in Ukraine be perceived? They must be punished today. Banning the performances of athletes in international arenas is one of the most effective ways to isolate Russia and Belarus. Instead of providing platforms for attackers to advertise themselves, this tool should be implemented as soon as possible.

We call for the immediate isolation of Russian and Belarusian athletes within their state borders.”