Sergiy Stakhovsky: 'Wimbledon signals to Ukraine encouraging'
From the point of view of the Ukrainian ex-professional Sergiy Stakhovsky , the Wimbledon exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players goes beyond the meaning of a symbolic gesture.
by SID
last edit: Jun 25, 2022, 02:48 pm
"It goes against the system. Sport is nothing more than Russian propaganda," Stakhovsky said shortly before the start of the world's most important tennis tournament in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung : "Russians in sports should be banned at every level."
The 36-year-old, who ended his career at the end of January after the Australian Open a few weeks before Russia attacked Ukraine, explains his uncompromising attitude with a lack of clear statements from Russian athletes: "Nobody has really made their position clear. I feel it It's not about punishing the players involved, although I don't think they're doing enough to differentiate themselves. I want the government to be punished. The government seeks and projects success through sport."
After the war broke out, the numerous calls by Russian professionals to end the war in Stakhovsky's homeland were too weak for the family man without naming the aggressor: "If Ukraine stops shooting, we will be slaughtered, murdered, Ukraine's existence will be wiped out Stop the shelling and it would be over."
Stakhovsky does not understand criticism of Wimbledon decision
For this reason, Stakhovsky cannot understand criticism from former colleagues such as Spain's top star Rafael Nadal about the Wimbledon decisions: "Nothing will change as long as nobody clearly tells the Russian professionals. I'm happy that Russian and Belarusian professionals were excluded ."
The four-time ATP tournament winner classifies the attitude of the Wimbledon organizers as correspondingly important. "It's encouraging what signals Wimbledon is sending to Ukraine. Nothing should be more important than human life - Wimbledon makes that clear."
Once again, the venerable club in London has stood out from everyday business: "Wimbledon has shown, and it has always been like that, that it is bigger than all the players. Wimbledon is always ahead in terms of fairness and modernity, but it remains true to its tradition , they give value to tradition. Wimbledon combines aristocracy and morality."