Eva Lys, a German-Ukrainian tennis player, has rebuked some Russian players for ridiculing the Ukrainian war, but she believes that while she supports the decision to ban Russian teams from international competitions, individuals should not be excluded from sports competitions for political reasons.
Several international sports federations have taken action to ban Russian and Belarusian state teams from playing, but Russian players in some sports have themselves been banned from individual competitions. Lys believes the two should not be tied together.
She said in an interview with The Telegraph: "Tennis pros do not represent a country like the national team, and I think the ban on Russia is a correct and clear decision." I think it's a good thing to suspend the country in tennis or to avoid mentions of Russia, but professional players should be allowed to participate in individual matches. "
The 20-year-old newcomer, who was born in Kiev and moved to Germany, said in an interview with Eurosport on Wednesday that she felt the Russian players had behaved disrespectfully in this week's ITF Kazakhstan 02A match.
She said in the interview: "Many Russian players here show disrespect to those affected by the war in Ukraine. They laugh at it, they make fun of it. Some demonstratively put on sportswear in the colors of Russia. ”
Lys chose to wear the color of the Ukrainian flag during the match to show her support for the country, and the practice, according to her, was ridiculed.
"Those people didn't have any verbal reaction to my costume," she told Bild, "but you can feel those eyes, the suffocating atmosphere."
So what do you think? Should individual behavior be tied to national decision-making? How should we view Ukraine's unofficial relations with Russia? Feel free to post your comments below.