KOSTIUK: “We are not independent players, we cannot change anything”

Ukrainian tennis player Martha Kostyuk He spoke at the press conference held by athletes who oppose the return of Russia and Belarus to international sports:

“We didn’t do it publicly, but last year we struggled to exclude Russians and Belarusians from our sport. Unfortunately we are not independent players. We mainly work for the WTA and ATP organizations and have no mandate to change anything. A few weeks ago we became more aware of our actions, more online we received a lot of support, we saw that the situation has improved a little in places.

Thomas Bach cited my match as an example of how Russians and Ukrainians can play together (final against Gracheva in the tournament in Austin). Our sport has a rating system. If I don’t participate in tournaments played by Russians and Belarusians, I will lose my rating and my career will be almost over. Because of such general advice, which has been collectively adopted by Ukrainian sports federations, we have spoken to our governing organizations that we will not compete in tournaments played by Russians and Belarusians. Their response to this was that they would “freeze” our rating and we could return to the competition as soon as the war was over. It was strange to hear such things. All year long we feel this extreme discrimination from various bodies like ATP, WTA, ITF and so on.

First of all, I think that all the basic rules of fair play are rejected and not respected. That’s what we see in sports, especially in our form. We did not receive much support, but we are trying to continue the fight. We keep playing to continue our careers and keep fighting.”

Lesya Tsurenko also made a comment at this press conference.