FTU once again reminds that the Russian Federation and Belarus use sports as part of propaganda
Ukrainian Tennis Federation (FTU) called for immediate exclude all Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions after the propaganda hype around the victories of Arina Sobolenko on Australian Open 2023.
“Ukrainian Tennis Federation appeals to the international tennis community to pay attention to the public reaction to the victory of Arina Sobolenko at the Australian Open.”
“We have repeatedly called for a ban on the performance of all Russian and Belarusian athletes without exception on all world arenas without exception. It’s not even about the athletes themselves, although many of them are active supporters of their totalitarian regimes and ardently support the bloody war against Ukraine, and some even formally serve in the armed forces. The main point that we want to emphasize is that the aggressor states use any achievements of their athletes to propagate and praise their own system and cannibalistic ideology.”
“The example of Arina Sobolenko, who won the Australian Open, is a clear evidence of the validity of the above thesis. After the broadcast of the semi-final and final of the competition, which was pirated on the Belarusian national TV channel, which in itself is a violation of international law, self-proclaimed President Lukashenko boasts of the victory of the Belarusian tennis player and raises a glass to her success. He is not at all worried that Sobolenka is playing under a neutral flag, as required by international tennis organizations. For him, as in principle for many others, she represents Belarus and glorifies it.”
“The Australian Open showed other examples of the fact that no one separates athletes without flags from their countries. Bacchanalia with Russian flags and photographing against the backdrop of portraits of the war criminal Putin is another argument to change erroneous decisions … These events clearly demonstrate that sport is not “out of politics”. On the contrary, it personifies one of the political directions. It is being used by the regimes for their own propaganda purposes.”
“You can have different attitudes towards specific athletes from certain states. But, how can one perceive the aggressor countries that flood Ukraine with blood? They must be punished today. And the ban on the performance of athletes in international arenas is one of the most effective means of isolating Russia and Belarus. This tool must be applied as soon as possible, instead of providing the aggressors with platforms for their self-promotion. We call for the isolation of Russian and Belarusian athletes within the borders of their states immediately.”
Recall that Sobolenko won the Australian Open-2023. In the final match, the tennis player defeated Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan in three games.
Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, was caught on video with a fan in a Z-shirt in Melbourne during the Australian Open 2023. Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasily Miroshnichenko called this behavior “a shame for the tournament.”
Earlier, Vasily Miroshnichenko appealed to the organizers of the Australian Open-2023 with a request to respond to the demonstration of the Russian flag during the match between Ukrainian Katerina Beindl and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
Source: Sportarena
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