"It's absurd to think she's connected to what's happening," Sabalenka's agent discusses the absence of the Belarusian flag
Aryna Sabalenka’s agent, Stuart Duguid, also spoke out about the requirement for Russian and Belarusian players to compete under a neutral flag.
For him, athletes have nothing to do with this conflict: "I’m not sure I can speak from a political standpoint. But I’ll share my opinion openly.
I think in Aryna’s case, the situation isn’t ideal. Two or three years ago, it was a more serious issue. Today, I believe people understand there’s a separation between her and politics.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that there’s no flag next to her name. It’s the same for the Russian players. To think she’s tied to what’s happening is absurd. She’s a tennis player.
I think in the West, people recognize that Aryna is Belarusian, but she’s also a world-class athlete. And that’s a major difference.
People see her as a global representative, a worldwide star, not as a representative of a narrow Eastern European market," he told the media outlet *First & Red*.
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