June 16 – Arsenal’s Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Zinchenko says Russian and Belarusian athletes should all be banned from high-level sport as a result of Russia’s invasion of his country.
Russia’s national team and clubs are still excluded by UEFA and FIFA but Zinchenko says that should extend to other sports.
At the forthcoming Wimbledon tennis championships Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete provided they sign neutral declarations.
But Zinchenko says there should be a blanket ban.
“I’m one of the Ukrainians who doesn’t like to see them at the highest level in any sport,” he said in a recent UK television interview with host Piers Morgan.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to compete. Why? Because how many bombs and rockets are being sent from Belarus, how many?
“I’m not political. I don’t understand anything about it and I would never understand it because this is not my area.
“But this is not political, this is war. They talk about not putting politics in sport, this is not political. This is war.”
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