{"id":2896,"date":"2022-03-17T10:15:12","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T10:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worabia.com\/news\/top-trends\/2896\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T10:15:12","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T10:15:12","slug":"war-in-ukraine-alexandr-dolgopolov-says-tennis-authorities-should-ban-russian-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worabia.com\/news\/top-trends\/2896\/","title":{"rendered":"War in Ukraine: Alexandr Dolgopolov says tennis authorities should ban Russian players"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former Ukrainian tennis player Alexandr Dolgopolov says tennis authorities are being “too passive” and should expel players from Russia while there is war in Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The 33-year-old told BBC Sport the decision to allow Russian players such as men’s world number one Daniil Medvedev to continue playing as neutrals and remove their flag “isn’t changing anything”.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Letting them play by just saying a few words that they’re against the war, I don’t think that’s enough,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former world number 13 Dolgopolov returned to kyiv to join Ukraine’s territorial defense unit and recently underwent military training to learn how to use weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n

While speaking to BBC Sport air raid sirens sounded in the city and he said it was “hard” to see “terrible things” happening in his country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia and Belarus have been suspended from international team tennis competitions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the ATP and WTA tours have allowed players from both countries to continue to compete as neutral individuals “at this time”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Medvedev has said he wants world peace, and his compatriot Andrey Rublev, the world number seven, signed a camera lens with a “no war please” message at a recent tournament in Dubai.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Dolgopolov said he was disappointed in the stance taken by the tennis authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I know all those guys personally. I even played against Daniil when he was playing. They are good guys, but no offense to them. I think Russia should be blocked from any participant in any sport, in any culture,” he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

“I think that every Russian is responsible for his government and for his president.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Just being neutral, taking the flag away from them, we know that doesn’t change anything. And even the sanctions that are going on now, even the destroyed economy, it’s not enough to [Russian President Vladimir Putin] to stop.”<\/span><\/p>\n