“We ourselves should not politicize sport if we demand it from the international sports community” – Matytsin

Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin referred to criticism of Russian tennis players speaking at international tournaments, calling not to politicize the sport.

– What do you think of the last victories in tennis?

– What I think, I said personally today to Tarpishchev, who today received a state award. The success of our national tennis players, despite the fact that they play and train abroad a large part of the time, shows the strength of our tennis school. Because the foundations of their victories were laid here, by Russian coaches. We saw it again at the Tokyo Olympics. And now, men’s and women’s tennis makes us happy. Tournament victories also motivate people to play sports and, in particular, tennis.

On the other hand, tennis is one of the few sports where Russian athletes are allowed to play, albeit in a neutral status. It is also a certain professional position of the ATP and the WTA. Despite the political differences, for them, sport has not become an object of pressure and sanctions against Russia. If our athletes did not participate, it would cause further damage to these organizations. I wish good luck to our federation and to all our specialists who ensure this success.

– Nevertheless, tennis players and the FTR are criticized in the State Duma.

– You can criticize, but the world tennis community still perceives them as representatives of Russia. And the fact that this community welcomes their participation shows that the whole world is not unipolar, and somewhere the professional point of view prevails. It does not matter how they are valued by the citizens of our country. We ourselves should not politicize sport if we demand non-politicization of sport from the international sports community, – the correspondent of reports Matytsin’s words.