"Only way is if they play a tournament they're banned from?": Fans react to ITF's Olympics rules for Russians, Belarusians, including Aryna Sabalenka

Tennis fans have reacted sharply to the seemingly unclear ITF (International Tennis Federation) rules for the participation of Russian and Belarusian players at the forthcoming Paris Olympics.

On Wednesday, March 6, the ITF released a statement noting that the tennis players from the concerned countries will be allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics, given they meet the eliglibilty requirements.

"The International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee will allow qualified and eligible athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as Individual Neutral Athletes (“AIN”)."

"Neutral athletes will need to meet the selection and eligibility requirements as set out in the applicable ITF Regulations," the statement read.

In ideal circumstances, several top-ranked players from Russia and Belarus, including Aryna Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and Victoria Azarenka, would qualify for the event. Due to the unclear rules, however, fans pointed out that the players may not meet ITF's eligibility criterion as they have not participated in tournaments such as the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup where they represent their nations.

Players from both nations cannot participate in events such as men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles in the Olympics, and are allowed to compete only in their individual capacity, fans said.

International sports organizations had imposed a ban on athletes from these two nations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and its facilitation by Belarus. But they later relaxed the ban allowing players to participate in events in their individual capacity.

"So they get allowed to play but then the only way they can is if they played a tournament they’re banned from??" a fan asked mockingly on X (formerly Twitter).

Fans criticised ITF stating that the federation has found a way to escape negative scrutiny by working around the system.

"The cheapest way of not buying the bad press of just blatantly banning them. But whatever... it's what I wanted. [Aryna Sabalenka] now gets to go to DC and get an advantage over the rest of the field for the US Open," a fan of Sabalenka posted on X.

Here are some more reactions from fans and commentators:

Aryna Sabalenka playing without Belarus affiliation at tournaments since Ukraine invasion

Aryna Sabalenka at the Brisbane International 2024

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has been competing at tournaments without her official Belarusian affiliation due to the conditions imposed on Russian and Belarusian players since the Ukraine invasion.

Russian and Belarusian players cannot have the flags of their countries next to their names at all four Grand Slam tournaments. ITF, the governing body of world tennis, suspended Russian and Belarusian tennis associations from individual and team competitions across the world in 2022.

The ITF had released a statement condemning the actions of Russia and Belarus while expressing solidarity with Ukraine. Russian and Ukrainian players do not offer each other the traditional handshake at the end of each match due to the ongoing war. While Wimbledon barred players from the two nations from competing at its 2022 event, it allowed them to play without affiliation in 2023.

Aryna Sabalenka, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, had said that politics and sports should be treated separately. Stating that the war is still tough and affected her a lot, she said that it is not her fault.