Politics should not be dragged into sports. Sportsmanship is something that should surpass politics. That is an easy thing to say as an outsider, and on a personal level I absolutely sympathise with her decision. But at the end I think she knew the rules, she knew the consequences and thus I think the message is stronger if she stays disqualified.
So you agree that no sport should allow national flags of any kind. Or competing as a representative of any country.
Because doing either of those things mean the sport is being political.
There is a reason that sport was always seen as something that can connect people. Especially in competitions sportsmanship was always seen as something bigger than politics. Of course it is not completely apolitical, but contestants usually still adhered to the rules of their sport. That is why I’m saying that knowingly breaking a quite central rule of her sport and accepting the consequences would be making a bigger point than being annoyed by the fact that the rules are being enforced.
As for your question: yes and no. I prefer to see good competition and usually don’t really care for where contestants come from. So I would be fine with removing flags altogether. But I also acknowledge that there are different kinds of “being proud of your country” and that waving a large flag doesn’t immediately make you a nationalist. So I’m fine either way. But you make a point, because yes, sport can and often is political. But we should not let politics dictate the rules of a sport. The Sport should come first…
Committing war crimes, murdering civilians, and bombing hospitals is not “politics”
As I said in my other reply further down, I’m admitting that a sport is often not apolitical. But I also think that good sportsmanship should always come before politics.
But your point now is really difficult. The pain that the Ukrainians have to endure is unimaginable, but there has never been a time where blatant generalisations were the right thing to do.
