Sir, – I can’t help but disagree with the position taken by Laura O’Mara (Letters, June 4th) concerning Vitalia Diatchenko playing in Dublin when she noted that “It really is a sad state of affairs when a young Russian professional tennis player is banned from practising on our courts”.
A vital element of driving reform in Moscow is to create conditions which impel the population to revolt against Russian president Vladimir Putin and his government.
Unfortunately, that involves Russian tennis players, athletes, footballers and artists being denied participation in significant events around the world.
If they and so-called “ordinary citizens” are exempted from the consequences of Mr Putin’s imperialist aggression and genocide on the basis that they are not Russia and Russia is not them, there will never be an inner pressure to reform.
I hate to have to take such a position – I have every sympathy with Ms Diatchencko – but events in Ukraine demand that all Russians are forced to take responsibility for their government, even at the cost of their most talented sport stars and artists being shunned from the world stage.
– Yours, etc,
PAUL McCARTHY
Rush,
Co Dublin.
