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Ukraine's Elina Svitolina marked her displeasure against Russia and their close ally Belarus for their invasion of her country and went on to appeal that athletes from those nations should be banned from participating at the upcoming Olympics.
Svitolina took to social media to propose that the International Olympic Committee must stick to banning Russian and Belarusian athletes and thereby send a strong message worldwide against the atrocities that are being committed towards Ukrainian lives.
"We must stick to banning russian and belarusian atheletes, sending a strong message worldwide, that we are united in the sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus and that there are consequences for the heinous acts of their governments," she wrote in a statement on Twitter.
In light of the controversial statement from the former World No. 3, several tennis fans were left angered as they felt it was unfair on athletes to get punished for what the governments of their respective countries carry out.
One fan felt that penalizing athletes for the actions of their government is comparable to punishing innocent children for the crimes of their parents.
"It is equivalent to punishing the innocent children for the crimes of their parents," their tweet read.
Another user acknowledged the "strong" nationalist feelings of the player but asserted that "Ukraine is not the world."
"I understand she has strong feelings, but Ukraine is not the world," they wrote in their tweet.
Athletes should not be held accountable for the deeds of their "dictators," said another user, pointing out that they are just as helpless in the situation as other citizens.
"The athletes aren´t responsible for the deeds of their dictators...even if they´re against war they have no chance to stop the war. sad but true. so not a fan of banning them"
One fan made it clear that sports should never be used as "a political tool," sarcastically stating that children training in any kind of sport in Russia taking the hit for Putin sounds logical.
"Ah yes cause all the children training in any kind of sport in Russia should take the hit for what Putin does. Sound logic. Sports shouldn’t be used as a political tool," the user's tweet read.
Here are a few other fan reactions:
Elina Svitolina revealed it was "very, very sad" to hear people asking her if the war in Ukraine was still going on
During her time in Europe, Elina Svitolina was devastated when she was subjected on multiple occasions to people asking her whether the war in Ukraine is still happening.
The 28-year-old was disheartened by the fact that people are gradually losing interest on such an important issue, lamenting how her close friends and family back in Ukraine are still living a nightmare.
"Here in Europe, a couple of times people came up to me and asked if there is still war going on in Ukraine. This was very, very sad for me to hear. I have close friends and family back in Ukraine, and I know what they are going through,” Elina Svitolina stated in a conversation with the New York Times.
