Ukraine’s Svitolina says anti-war Russians, Belarusians should not face ban
DUBAI: Elina Svitolina said Russian and Belarusian players who denounce Moscow’s invasion of her country Ukraine should be allowed to participate at Wimbledon.The grasscourt major announced on Wednesday that Russian and Belarusian competitors would be banned from this year’s tournament.The decision means that the likes of men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women’s fourth-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus are ruled out of the June 27-July 10 tournament.World number 25 Svitolina joined fellow Ukrainian players on Wednesday in seeking a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions but appeared to soften her stance in an interview with the BBC on Thursday.“We don’t want them banned completely,” Svitolina said. “If players don’t speak out against the Russian government then it is the right thing to ban them.“We just want them to speak up, if they are with us and the rest of the world or the Russian government.
