Dilemma over Russian athletes threatens to tear sports down the middle

When the horrors inflicted on Bucha’s residents emerged last week, the Russian grandmaster – and serial Vladimir Putin apologist – Sergey Karjakin was asked for his response. “Have you seen the pictures, Sergey?” the questioner probed on social media. “The senseless killings of innocent people. Men, women and children. Tortured by the Russian army. Bound hands behind their backs, and shot in the back of the head. Have you seen it, Sergey?”

Karjakin, who represented Ukraine until 2009 before transferring his allegiance to Russia, had indeed seen the images. And his reply was chilling. “I wanted to say it was a good fake,” he said. “But no. It was a bad fake.”

Even before this latest incident, Russia’s Lord Haw‑Haw had been given a six-month ban for his bombastic support of the invasion of Ukraine, which breached chess’s code of ethics. Now, having slipped further beyond the pale, further beyond redemption, he faces ostracism.

Few will shed any tears at that – or at Russia’s teams being banned from most international events, including the Winter Paralympics and World Cup playoffs. Why, after all, should it be allowed to glory in its sporting achievements when thousands of innocents have been slaughtered and millions have fled?

But not everything is as clear cut. Last week it emerged that Wimbledon was ready to ban the world No 2 Daniil Medvedev over fears that his victory “could boost the Putin regime”. Previously the sports minister Nigel Huddleston had also suggested Medvedev and other Russians would have to give assurances they are not supporters of Putin to play.

But if you are a classical liberal, this demand might also make you a little queasy. Why, after all, should the sins of a country’s dictator lead to a sports