The ambiguity of Sabalenka, or when the war in Ukraine interferes at Roland-Garros

by time news

2023-06-08 07:04:10

From our special correspondent Porte d’Auteuil – Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, current world number 2, will play the Roland-Garros semi-final on Thursday. If on clay, his fortnight takes place in the best of worlds, outside the courts, he is criticized for his ambiguous position on the war in Ukraine and the president of his country, the autocrat Alexander Lukashenko.

On the court, Aryna Sabalenka is imperial, repelling her opponents one by one until reaching the semi-final which she will play on Thursday, June 8, against the Czech Karolina Muchova. Outside, the Belarusian is on the other hand systematically overtaken by the war in Ukraine, while she prefersIt iswould like to focus on tennis and that the where forgets his past marks of support for the authoritarian leader of his country Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Vladimir Putin.

After twice dodging the post-match press conference, citing his “mental health”, the Belarusian presented himself theree to everyone’s surprise, Tuesday, June 6, on the heels of her quarter-final victory over the Ukrainian Elena Svitolina.

“I only want to be a tennis player”

“I’m only 25. If I wanted to be a politician, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t want to be drawn into politics. I just want to be a tennis player,” she said. said, in a to-the-point response, saying she hadn’t “felt safe” previously at a press conference.

It must be said that the young woman was not spared. In a tense exchange after his second round victory against his compatriot Iryna Shymanovich, a Ukrainian journalist asked him to justify his links with Alexander Lukashenko, whose regime is waging a relentless crackdown on critical voices in his country and supports Russia in its invasion from Ukraine. The previous round, she had to comment on the refusal to shake hands with her opponent of the day, Marta Kostyuk, another Ukrainian. The latter had indicated “not [la] respect”, accusing him of not taking a clear position against the war in Ukraine.

In this long part where the Russians, Bice creamRussians and Ukrainians have been passing the ball to each other for months, the Roland-Garros public has adopted a paradoxical attitude. Particularly noisy this year, the French supporters push the Ukrainian players when they come face to face with Russians and Belarusians but boo them when ces same Ukrainians refuse to shake hands with their opponent at the end of the match.

Read also Roland-Garros: court No. 14, boiling cauldron adored by the French

“There are two realities that confront each other : that of sport, with its values ​​of fair play and tolerance, and that of war. The public seems to be sensitive to both”, analyzes Lukas Aubin, research director at Iris, author of the book “Geopolitics of Russia”, published by La Découverte.

AT At the end of her quarter-final, Aryna Sabalenka cultivated ambiguity by planting herself very ostensibly at the net to wait for her opponent’s handshake, who never came. An “instinct” she defended herself, rejecting the idea of ​​​​a trap set for Elina Svitolina, who never bends her rule, even in front of the Russian Daria Kasatkina whom she respects for her grip radical position against the politics of his country of origin.

“I don’t know why she was waiting for me. In TAll my press conferences, I express my position very clearly” reacted the one who refuses to shake hands with some of her opponents out of respect for her compatriots “who are on the front line at the moment, who [regarderait alors] act as if nothing had happened”.


She wasn’t surprised by the whistles from the audience: “I’m not trying to escape, I have my strong position. I’m very clear about that. I will not try to win public appreciation by betraying my own strong beliefs and my strong position in favor of my country.”

A long history of supporting Loukachenko

Quite the opposite of Sabalenka who pays for her linksformerly displayed, with Alexandre Lukashenko. According to the agencyANDtat Belta, she had met him on the occasion ofa head to head organized at the request of the player.

In 2019, in a interview to the independent media Tut.by – closed since the 2020 protests against power, and whose two leaders were recently sentenced to twelve years in prison – she paid tribute to him: “Obviously, it’s good to be born in a country where the president supports sport like no one else and is ready to help in difficult times.”

Then, on December 31, 2020, after a year marked by the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations in Belarus, Sabalenka took part, in Minsk, in a toast with Lukashenko for the New Year, in the company of other personalities supporting the regime. At the same time, she had signed an open letter, like 3 000 other Belarusian sportsmen, against the creation of a “Union of free sportsmen of Belarus” supporting the political opposition.

President bice creamRussian regularly praises his performances. At the start of the year, heait a toast in his honor after his victory at the Australian Open. At the end of March, he announcesthat that he was going to “talk to her” after her loss at the WTA 1000 in Miami. Ostentatious support which becomes embarrassing for Sabalenka “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t help” make me popular, has she it in April in Stuttgart. “I don’t know what to say because he can comment on my matches, he can comment on whatever he wants.”


For her return to a press conference at Roland-Garros, she had therefore prepared for this thorny question of links with the master of Belarus “We played a lot of matcheses of Fed Cup and he was at our matches. He took pictures with us after the meetings. Nothing bad was happening right now.” Then, in response to another question, she added “I don’t support war, which means I don’t support Lukashenko right now.”

“Coubertin’s Trap”

“You have to be aware that these players are potentially in danger if they start speaking out against the regime, especially in Belarus where Lukashenko’s regime puts a lot of emphasis on sport and l’uses as a platform,” notes Lukas Aubin. “It is very difficult to take a stand against these regimes. Those who generally do not return to the country.”

To avoid these geopolitical headaches, international bodies maintain the myth of the apoliticism of sport : The discourse of international sports bodies is hypocritical, it is based on an old hiatus, which is called the De Coubertin trap when he createde Games. He says they must be separated from politics. But he himself politicized them excessively”, denounces Lukas Aubin.

Unlike many other sports, the WTA and ATP, which govern women’s and men’s tennis respectively, have been the least opinionated bodies.âvery. They resisted calls to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions, asking them to compete as “neutrals”, without flags or anthems.

At Roland-Garros, this translates in a concrete way: when the players present themselves on the courts, there is no mention of their nationality, just like in the daily newspaper of the competition. On bulletin boards, their names appear without being followed by the usual three letters indicating the country of origin. An vexation which gives the impression to Aryna Sabalenka to “come out of nowhere”.

Still, the model seduces the IOC for the Olympic Games. defending his intention to authorize Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions, the president of the body, Thomas Bach, aroused astonishment by citing tennis as an example of cohabitation between the three belligerants of the war raging in Eastern Europe.

“There is a form of hypocrisy in putting tennis forward, when we can clearly see that with each confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian or Belarusian athletes, there are tensions, verbal outbursts on both sides. , and excessive politicization”, recalls Lukas Aubin. “The IOC is looking for a solution, but there are no good ones at the moment.”

In the meantime, Aryna Sabalenka continues her way to Roland-Garros, a tournament she never hasis win. In the final, she could face the current number 1, the Polish Iga Swiatek, and therefore potentially take her place in the event of a final victory. A hypothetical duel between the desire to separate politics and tennis and that of linking them, Iga Swiatek having repeatedly expressed against this guerre which takes place at the border of his country.


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