Czech police stopped a Russian tennis player from entering the country ahead of the WTA Prague Open tournament, organisers said on Friday, as a new government resolution banning athletes from Russia or Belarus caused the event to scratch other competitors.

  • Tentaclius@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Apparently this is how things are. It is a shame to see how individual responsibility, very valuable European value, is treated recently by some Europeans . But it looks like this is the reality of war. Things are not normal. Hopefully they will get back to normal someday soon.

    I am Belarusian, I migrated with my family away from Belarus few years back in fear of politically motivated prosecution, before even the war begun. I had to experience this kind of attitude, my bank accounts were frozen for some time and there are still limitations to get a medical insurance. Surprisingly I never ever heard a bad word from Ukrainians themselves living here. They are amazingly understanding.

    That said, I believe sport is bit different. At top level the athletes are often representatives of their countries. At international level sport is neatly intertwined with politics (especially so in post-USSR countries). So… yeah… that’s bad, but as Belarusian I fully support ban of Belarusian athletes from international competition, purely from respect to Ukrainian athletes, who shouldn’t be forced to shake hands with them. Also I keep supporting all sorts of sanction towards Belarusian and Russian regimes, even though it can inconvenience me as a side effect.