Professional sports and media need to stop acting like Russian athletes are Putin puppets
Russian and Belarusian tennis players have competed on the international stage under a "neutral athlete" policy since 2022, stripped of their flags, country names, and anthems in official tournament displays, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The policy was put in place by the ATP, the WTA, and the International Tennis Federation shortly after the war began. It allows individual athletes from both countries to keep playing in tournaments and Grand Slams, but without the symbols of their nationality. The one major exception came in 2022, when Wimbledon went beyond the neutral-athlete rule and banned Russian and Belarusian players outright before later reversing that decision.
At this year's French Open at Roland Garros, the policy was visible in the tournament's own graphics. When the women's quarterfinals were posted to Roland Garros's official X account, several players, including world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, were shown without a national flag above their names.
The restrictions on national identity have followed players into press rooms as much as onto the court. Throughout 2025 and 2026, Sabalenka and other Russian and Belarusian players have been repeatedly asked in post-match interviews whether they condemn the war and whether they feel pressure from Ukrainian opponents like Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk. Sabalenka's answers have stayed consistent across both seasons. She has said she does not support the war and has described herself as "just a tennis player" with no influence over political decisions, while also pushing back on the idea that athletes should be drawn into geopolitical debate.
The tension came into sharp relief on Saturday, when 19-year-old Russian player Mirra Andreeva won the French Open title, beating Chwalinska in straight sets. During her acceptance speech, Andreeva spoke in Russian, a choice that stood out in a tournament environment where Russian national identity has been systematically muted. In the stands, two supporters were briefly seen waving a Russian flag before security asked them to put it away.
The treatment of Russian athletes in tennis is one piece of a wider pattern across international sports since the start of the war. The International Ice Hockey Federation has suspended Russian national teams from most of its competitions, including the World Championships, citing security concerns and the inability to guarantee safe participation. The IIHF has repeatedly extended that suspension. The NHL did not include Russia in its 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, a tournament organized jointly by the league and the NHL Players' Association. The NHL never publicly explained the decision, though the league's actions tracked with the IIHF's stance.
The International Olympic Committee has also kept Russian teams out of its competitions. Ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, the IOC upheld its ban on Russian national teams. The 2022 Winter Games, however, were hosted in Beijing, a decision the IOC made despite ongoing international criticism of China's human rights record.
Daniil Medvedev, then the world's top-ranked men's player, found himself at the center of the debate in 2022 when UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said Medvedev's chances of playing at Wimbledon could hinge on assurances he was not a "supporter" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The question of how to treat Russian and Belarusian athletes competing as individuals, separate from the actions of their governments, has continued to fuel argument inside and outside sports. At the French Open, the debate moved from press conference podiums to the trophy ceremony itself, as a teenage champion accepted her Grand Slam title in a sport that has spent four years trying to figure out where the line falls between athlete and nation.