Tennis
Ukrainian players deplore the lack of reaction from the WTA
(Paris) Ukrainian tennis players Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko deplored Monday the lack of reaction of the WTA women’s circuit to the Russian invasion of their country and demanded among several measures the cancellation of the tournaments planned in Russia.
Tsurenko, 127and of the world ranking at 32, posted on Twitter a text of protest in white letters on a black background.
Aged 19 and ranked at 54and WTA rank, Kostyuk posted an almost similar message in content on her Instagram account.
“We Ukrainian players would like to express our great surprise and disappointment at the lack of reaction to the situation in our homeland,” they wrote.
“It is particularly odd that in past cases of social injustice and sexual harassment, the WTA’s response has been swift, appropriate and bold,” they say.
This is a reference in particular to the case of the Chinese Peng Shuai, who disappeared last November after accusations against a former high dignitary of her country and whose fate had quickly mobilized the organizers of the women’s circuit.
“Our country, Ukraine, is under attack from a stronger nuclear power,” continue the two young women.
“We demand that the WTA condemn the Russian government now, cancel all tournaments organized in Russia and approach the ITF (the secondary circuit for men and women, editor’s note) so that it does the same”, explains the text. , published before the expulsion of Russia from the World Cup play-offs by FIFA.
“While saying this, we support our colleagues from Russia and any Russian-speaking players as we understand that this unprovoked attack took place without their knowledge or participation,” they said.
“Be HUMAN”, concludes the text made public by Kostyuk and Tsurenko.
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Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.