Dmitry Svishchev, chairman of the State Duma committee on physical culture and sports, told that the Ukrainian Angelina Kalinina did not shake hands with a Russian woman Veronika Kudermetova because of fear.
Previously, Kalinina defeated Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Rome. After the meeting ended, the Ukrainian woman refused to shake hands with the Russian woman, explaining this by the political situation between the countries.
– The reason for the unsportsmanlike act is fear, apprehension. We understand that the pressure of fellow citizens, supporters can reach a boiling point compared to a tennis player who expresses a gesture of respect towards an opponent, which is common in sport. During the conflict between our countries, there are a large number of people who are just waiting for the moment to start hating each other.
We saw how one of the Ukrainian athletes was photographed or shook hands with our athletes, after which enormous psychological pressure was put on him and his family. This can affect reputation and sports career.
We congratulate Kalinina on her victory, she turned out to be stronger in this match. We assess, first of all, the professional qualities of any athlete, regardless of nationality, Svishchev told .
Kalinina in the final of the tournament will play with the representative of Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina .
Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
