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Will Sanctions Affect Tournaments and/or Individual Players?
Some former & current players are either saying they won't play against Russians ( Elena Svitolina) or calling for Russian Players to be banned from tour tennis (Jamie Hamilton)
Simon Briggs of The Telegraph on the latter:
Excerpt:
"Like his colleague Andrey Rublev, who wrote “No war please” on a camera lens as he strode to last week’s title in Dubai, Medvedev has snubbed Putin’s murderous vanity project.
On Friday, he posted a moving social-media message that concluded “I want to ask for peace in the world, for peace between countries. Kids are born with inner trust in the world … Let’s be together and show them that it’s true, cause every kid shouldn’t stop dreaming.”
Rather than bolstering Putin’s war machine, Medvedev and Rublev have become symbols of the other Russia: the many millions who feel only anger and shame.
This is a courageous stance to take. If Putin should survive this crisis, or if he is succeeded by another hardline nationalist, such statements will damage the standing of both men in their home country. They have put ethics ahead of personal interest.
"
And Briggs position:
"Russia should be expelled at once from all team events: the Davis Cup, the Billie Jean King Cup and the ATP Cup.
But individual Russians must play on, especially if they are going to speak plainly and honourably about the conflict. Medvedev, despite his crotchety temper on the court, has already shown himself to be a worthy figurehead for the game.
The ITF has already stopped Challenger events. The ATP has an event literally named after one of the sanctioned Russian banks, "VTB Moscow" . My vague recollection is that the Moscow event was held in the past during sanctions against VTB (which included accusations of FSB spying). VTB has been sanctioned numerous times by the US, Canada, Britain and the EU.
Simon Briggs of The Telegraph on the latter:
Excerpt:
"Like his colleague Andrey Rublev, who wrote “No war please” on a camera lens as he strode to last week’s title in Dubai, Medvedev has snubbed Putin’s murderous vanity project.
On Friday, he posted a moving social-media message that concluded “I want to ask for peace in the world, for peace between countries. Kids are born with inner trust in the world … Let’s be together and show them that it’s true, cause every kid shouldn’t stop dreaming.”
Rather than bolstering Putin’s war machine, Medvedev and Rublev have become symbols of the other Russia: the many millions who feel only anger and shame.
This is a courageous stance to take. If Putin should survive this crisis, or if he is succeeded by another hardline nationalist, such statements will damage the standing of both men in their home country. They have put ethics ahead of personal interest.
"
And Briggs position:
"Russia should be expelled at once from all team events: the Davis Cup, the Billie Jean King Cup and the ATP Cup.
But individual Russians must play on, especially if they are going to speak plainly and honourably about the conflict. Medvedev, despite his crotchety temper on the court, has already shown himself to be a worthy figurehead for the game.
The ITF has already stopped Challenger events. The ATP has an event literally named after one of the sanctioned Russian banks, "VTB Moscow" . My vague recollection is that the Moscow event was held in the past during sanctions against VTB (which included accusations of FSB spying). VTB has been sanctioned numerous times by the US, Canada, Britain and the EU.
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