Almost a year and a half of the war has passed, and some fans in different countries of the world still do not understand why our athletes do not shake hands with representatives from Russia and Belarus. The next episode happened after the ¼-final match of the French Open Roland Garros between the number one racket of Ukraine and the 15th racket of the world Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, which ended with the victory of the latter.
The representative of the country, which helps the aggressor in every possible way, was waiting for Elina near the net, but the Ukrainian did not even look in the direction of her rival, shaking hands only with the referee, which caused a disgruntled uproar in the stands. World mass media have already written that such things bring the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine to a new level.
Get the ball rolling!
It all started with the fact that, despite the Russian aggression against Ukraine, some world sports federations decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in neutral status, which we wrote about here. This means that representatives of the aggressor country and the country that actively helps the aggressor cannot use state flags. Of course, we are not talking about condemning the war in Ukraine and the dictatorial regimes of Putin and Lukashenka. That is, according to the logic of some of the world’s sports officials, Ukrainians should welcome those who support the murder of their compatriots, the destruction of entire cities, and the genocide of Ukrainians in general.
It was because of the incomprehensible policy of the International Tennis Federation that Elina Svitolina had to leave the tennis court to the whistle of the stands, although before that she was considered the favorite of the local public because in addition to sports factors, her husband is the French tennis player Gael Monfils.
The scandal was also caused by the Belarusian tennis player herself, who demonstratively waited for Svitolina at the net, although she knew very well that there would be no handshakes. For example, the Ukrainian second racket Marta Kostyuk was also booed by the stands for not shaking Aryna Sabalenka’s hand at the start of Roland Garros.
That is, how to perceive the actions of the Belarusian tennis player in this case? As an open provocation? Then this is another argument for excluding athletes from this country from any international competitions. Sabalenka said that she went to the net automatically, and not to shake up the situation in the stands. Such an excuse.
Still not out of politics?
To understand the issue, you need to raise the background. Photos of a smiling Sabalenka talking and taking pictures with the unrecognized President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko at various events are circulating on the Internet. According to the ex-commentator of the “Belarus 5” channel Yaroslav Pysarenko, the second racket of the world became dependent on the dictator because of a personal request for help. However, the athlete herself denies this, saying that she no longer supports Lukashenko.
But there is one nuance here: the Belarusian tries to slip dry between the raindrops, constantly changing her mind. As recently as March of 2023, she stated that athletes from the exiled countries had not done anything bad to Ukrainians, despite supporting or keeping quiet about the war in Ukraine. Suddenly, after three months, Sabalenka felt that she was hated because of her country.
Arina Sabalenka is a typical example of how many Belarusian and Russian athletes want to save their careers, remain their own in the civilized world, but at the same time not expose themselves too much to problems within the country.
In some sports, there is such a concept as “staying in a half-position”, that is, not playing the episode to the end and giving the opponent an advantage at a specific moment. Usually, such situations negatively affect the overall result. But only in the game, not out of the game. In real life, when your country commits the genocide of an entire nation or actively promotes it, some federations allow athletes to be in a semi-war stance.
The position of Ukrainian tennis players
But Ukrainian tennis players are as consistent as possible: they did not shake hands with the representatives of Russia and Belarus, and they continue to hold their position. No matter what provocations the rivals make, if the fans in the stands do not react to it, the girls are not going to deviate from their principles.
Ukrainian first racket after the scandalous match with Sabalenka declared:
“I don’t really pay attention to the whistle from the stands. I am not a dollar to be liked by everyone. I have my position and I stick to it. I’m not going to sell my country for the sake of audience sympathy”
Marta Kostyuk, Diana Yastremska, and other famous tennis players of ours adhere to this position.
The opinion of sports journalists
Leonid Frantseskevych, sports journalist, commentator
“I am absolutely convinced that all Russians and Belarusians should not participate in international competitions, at least at the official level. But if it so happened that Russians and Belarusians compete in some sports under a neutral flag, then there can be no handshakes with them. It’s not about who stood for what, it’s about the fact that we don’t want to play with them at all, we’re being forced to do so. They bomb our houses, and we should shake their hands? Of course, they will say: “Why is a tennis player here?”. The answer is very simple: while the war is going on, there is no neutral status — either you are for Ukraine or against it.”
Vitaly Khemiy, sports columnist:
“I believe that the behavior of our athletes is absolutely correct: they finished the match and went to rest, if someone condemns it, some marginal layers of fans, then it is their problem. This has already happened and will remain so until the end of the war. You have to get used to it.
Regarding the participation of co-aggressor countries. Some federations heed the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee [regarding the participation of Russians and Belarusians under a neutral flag — ed.], but tennis is generally a “state within a state”. A specific competition is organized by a specific organizing committee, and it may consider that a specific well-known athlete is the popularity of the tournament, it is the audience in the stands, it is, in the end, additional earned money. Yes, there are certain generally established norms. This athlete may not wave the tricolor or openly support the war, for example, but in the question of his admission to the tournament, mercantile interests usually prevail. We have to understand that, unfortunately, our allies — France, Germany, Italy — perceive the war differently from ours, despite their support for Ukraine.”
Conclusions
Due to the war, Ukrainian athletes are already in extraordinary conditions compared to representatives of other countries. A logical question: why should they get into such scandalous situations at competitions due to conscious or unconscious actions of Russians and Belarusians? Perhaps the international sports federations in those sports should remember that Ukraine has been at war for almost six months, which was caused by these countries? Evidently, world isolation would force famous athletes in these countries to increase the pressure on criminal regimes, and accordingly bring the end of the war a little closer.
Kostyantyn Grechany
