Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

The Sports World’s Selective Moral Indignation
Gus Griffin
03 May 2022
The Sports World’s Selective Moral Indignation
Olympic and Russian Federation Flags

Russian athletes have been banned from the Boston Marathon, Wimbledon tennis championships, and perhaps the next Olympic games. These punishments were not meted out to citizens of the U.S. and allied countries after the invasion of Iraq or destruction of Libya or to others whose governments commit war crimes.

Wimbledon, home of the world's most prestigious tennis tournament, is the latest to join the low hanging fruit fray of banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions. 

The  implications for tennis are significant. On the men’s side, two of the top ten players, including defending US Open champ and Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev are banned from playing.  On the women’s side, 3 of the top 20, including 4th ranked Aryna Sabalenka and two-time major champ Victoria Azarenka are also banned from playing.

The implications beyond sports are the extension of the anti-Russian propaganda which serves to give the US/NATO cover in creating this situation.

Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina, piled on by saying that she was “stunned” by the lack of humanity from Russian tennis players. She went on to say, “when there is genocide of Ukrainians and these players represent their countries, we need to know if they support such actions” 

Her position is that if allowed to play on the tour, Russian and Belarusian players must first renounce the invasion. This is problematic on multiple levels.

No such requirement has ever been made of athletes from the United States despite its multiple illegal invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq nor its collaboration with NATO to destroy Libya. Its additional ongoing military actions on the African continent are just as inhumane. In fact, the day Russia advanced across the Ukrainian border, the US, through its AFRICOM operations, launched multiple drone strikes against the people of Somalia. This is a continuation of US interventions in this small country on the Horn of Africa over the course of 30 years during which an estimated 250,000 Somalians have died and some 3 million have been displaced.

Where are the bans of US and NATO member country athletes?

No such requirements have ever been made of athletes from Saudi Arabia. With US backing, it has created what many call the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with its war in Yemen during which an estimated 377,000 people have been killed. In addition, the Saudi monarchy has been implicated in literally chopping up a US journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

Where are the bans of Saudi Arabian athletes?

No such requirements have ever been made of athletes from Israel which has violently occupied Palestinian lands for over 70 years displacing over 7 million Palestinians world-wide. Nearly 100,000 have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces since 1948. This occupation has been funded by US tax dollars.

Where are the bans of Israeli athletes?

Svitolina is not alone in her selective outrage. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended a similar ban of Russian and Belarusian teams as those imposed by Wimbledon. This is the same body that forbade US athletes from engaging in any Colin Kaepernick type actions to protest police terrorism which are disproportionately carried out against Black people in the United States.

But the former 3rd ranked women’s tennis player has some peculiar contradictions. She appeals tof Russian players to express “humanity” in support of her and Ukraine while remaining silent about the massacre that has been ongoing in the predominantly Russian speaking Donbas region of her own country for the past eight years prior to the Russian invasion. This war has resulted in some 14,000 fatalities. Nor has she spoken out about the infamous Azov battalion which has been integrated into the Ukrainian military in spite of being openly Nazi. It is hard to imagine her being unaware of this given that she is married to the African former top ten player Gael Monfils who plays under the colonizing flag of France. 

This is no small contradiction. 

In the 1890s Africans were tortured in German concentration camps in Southwest Africa (now called Namibia). Colonial German doctors conducted unspeakable medical experiments on these Africans decades before such atrocities were to be visited upon  Jewish and other concentration camp victims. Thousands of Africans were killed in Namibia. While the formal Nazi party was not founded until 1920, the actions in Africa were a model for later Nazi practices.

I do not object to Svitolina expressing herself on world affairs. I do object to selective moral indignation be it from her or the IOC. When we see this, it should be called out for the hypocrisy that it is!

Gus Griffin is a DC area freelance sports columnist and a member of both the Ujima People's Progress Party and the Black Alliance for Peace. 

Anti-Russia Hysteria
Russia
Russian athletes

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

U.S. Effort to Hurt Russia Undermines Itself and the World
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
U.S. Effort to Hurt Russia Undermines Itself and the World
08 June 2022
The U.S. drive to dominate creates self-inflicted wounds and self-imposed crises.
Fact Finding Mission to Donbass
John Parker
Fact Finding Mission to Donbass
18 May 2022
John Parker is the Socialist Unity Party candidate for U.S.
To Honor Odessa Anti-Fascists, Stop Weapons to Ukraine!
John Parker
To Honor Odessa Anti-Fascists, Stop Weapons to Ukraine!
11 May 2022
Statement by John Parker, Socialist Unity Party candidate for U.S.
Blame NATO for the Ukraine War
Eugene Puryear
Blame NATO for the Ukraine War
03 May 2022
Should we really blame NATO for the Ukraine war?
The Little-Known International Charter At The Center of Ukraine War and China's Future Defense
Jacqueline Luqman
The Little-Known International Charter At The Center of Ukraine War and China's Future Defense
27 April 2022
The U.S. talks about "rule based order" because international law is not on its side.
Imperialism
John Parker
Imperialism
27 April 2022
The word imperialism has been used and misused often as the crisis in Ukraine continues.
The Nuclear Threat From Beyond the Ideological Compass
Jeremy Miller
The Nuclear Threat From Beyond the Ideological Compass
27 April 2022
The expiration of nuclear treaties between the U.S. and Russia mean that conventional wars bring a risk of nuclear weapons use.
The Ukraine Crisis Can't Save Biden
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Ukraine Crisis Can't Save Biden
20 April 2022
The U.S. propaganda victory over Russia will do Joe Biden and the democrats little good.
Our Case Against NATO: Africans and the Struggle Against Imperialism
Abayomi Azikiwe
Our Case Against NATO: Africans and the Struggle Against Imperialism
19 April 2022
The Pentagon led political and military alliance continues to serve as major impediment to peace, liberation and a just world system.
Liberal Russophobia and War Propaganda
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Liberal Russophobia and War Propaganda
13 April 2022
U.S. liberals are the worst perpetrators of Russophobic behavior.

More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio June 24, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 24, 2022
    24 Jun 2022
    Leftist formation wins Colombian presidential election, the effort to end involuntary servitude in U.S. prisons, the impeachment of a Black legislator in Brazil, and the nature of fascism and need…
  • Historical Pact Victory in Colombian Election
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Historical Pact Victory in Colombian Election
    24 Jun 2022
    Ajamu Baraka is National Organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace. He joins us to discuss the recent election results in Colombia where Gustavo Petro, became the new president, and Francia Marquez,…
  • Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
    24 Jun 2022
    Savannah Eldrige is the founder of Coaliton to Abolish Slavery in Texas, an organization devoted to ending involuntary servitude in that state. She is also the founder of Be Frank 4 Justice which…
  • Impeachment of Renato Freitas in Brazil
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Impeachment of Renato Freitas in Brazil
    24 Jun 2022
    Renato Freitas is a Black City Councillor in Curitiba, Brazil. He and others joined in national protests over the killing of Congolese immigrant Mugenyi Kabagambe, who was beaten to death after…
  • Fascism and Fake Resistance
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Fascism and Fake Resistance
    24 Jun 2022
    In 2018 the late Glen Ford wrote about the election of Jair Bolsonaro to the Brazilian presidency, and the nature of fascism in Brazil, the U.S. and around the world. Margaret Kimberley reads…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us