Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[SecondWar]

SecondWar said:

SecondWar said:

I'm curious how some sports like tennis, where players compete as individuals rather than nations, handle the bans.

There's a big tournament in Indian Wells next week. The full draw isn't out yet but the seeds are. The men's draw has 4 Russian players. The Women's has 2 Russian and 2 Belarusian, but also 1 Ukrainian. Could well be contentious if the Ukrainian player is drawn to play any of the Russians or Belarusians.

With the football ban, unsurprisingly Russia are whinging about the ban being unfair and are going to challenge it, as expected. But given such bans have been applied to South Africa and Yugoslavia in the past I can't see them overturning it. And they can go whistle as far as I'm concerned.

Formula 1 have just annouced that Russian driver Nikita Mazepin is permitted to complete in this year’s championship albeit not under the Russian flag (so if he gets on the podium in any race it will be under to FIA flag). I can understand them drawing a distinction between a Russian person and Russian national teams here - and this might be reflected in other sports like tennis

I’ve now seen it reported that the tennis organisations are allowing Russian and Belarusian players to continue competing but under neutral flags. This is in effect in tournaments on the WTA this week.

The top ranked Ukrainian player, Elina Svitolina, was drawn against a Russian player and has agreed to play her under a neutral flag. She had previously said she would withdraw.

In team tournaments though, such as the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup, Russia have been kicked out.