Tennis star ‘threatened by WTA’ after exposing – Sports News
Oleksandra Oliynykova has claimed she was threatened by the WTA to remain silent (Image: Getty)
Ukrainian tennis participant Oleksandra Oliynykova has claimed that the WTA pressured her to stop speaking about Russian and Belarusian gamers’ assist for Russia’s conflict towards Ukraine.
Last 12 months, Sabalenka misplaced the ultimate of the French Open in beautiful fashion to Coco Gauff, who got here from two units down to defeat the Belarusian. Sabalenka’s defeat to Baptiste is just not the one story to have hit the headlines involving the world No.1.
Oliynykova, who’s at the moment ranked seventieth on the earth, claimed the WTA had pressured her to stay silent about Russian and Belarusian gamers’ assist for Russia‘s conflict towards Ukraine, with Sabalenka having lately favored a pro-Vladimir Putin post on social media.
The post in query that Sabalenka favored was made by Russian TV host Victoria Bonya, who expressed her assist for Putin, whom she referred to as a “strong politician”. Oliynykova, who has not shied away from criticizing Russia’s conflict towards Ukraine, lately claimed the WTA had tried to stress her to stop speaking concerning the battle.
In a sequence of Instagram posts, she wrote, “The first time they [the WTA] approached me was at a tournament in Cluj-Napoca. At that time, I did not attach much importance to it, because I did not yet know what was going to follow. After that, for two months, I was under constant pressure.
“The demand was that, regardless of the absence of any rule about depersonalization in interviews and statements, I ought to stop mentioning gamers by title, as my statements ‘might be dangerous to them’.
She continued, “I began to be threatened with fines of tens of thousands of dollars, with disqualification. My tournaments (before matches, during the event, after it ended) became accompanied by constant conversations with WTA representatives, who would come to ‘educate’ me on how I should speak — or rather, how I should stay silent.
“For my half, I attempted to interact in dialogue. I began adjusting my statements and my habits, hoping that if I moved towards them, I’d obtain solutions to my questions: What if the actions of these gamers hurt me? What safety for my life and health can I obtain? What if these actions are information? Why did they do nothing, even when there’s direct assist for russian aggression?
“But all of these questions were ignored. I was expected to act according to a pattern that was convenient for them. I was asked why I could not just do as others do. There was a complete devaluation of my experience as a person building a life in a country at war, a reality that deeply affects me.”
Aryna Sabalenka favored a pro-Vladimir Putin social media post (Image: Getty)
Previously, Sabalenka has claimed she doesn’t assist the conflict in Ukraine. Back in 2023, she distanced herself from the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko. “I don’t want my country to be in any conflict, I don’t support the war,” Sabalenka stated.
“I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Alexander Lukashenko right now.”
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