Quote Originally Posted by Zippity View Post
The point behind the bans is in part, to my mind, to make Russia such a pariah that ordinary folk there have their eyes opened to what's going on or, at the very least, begin to question it-if the entire world (ish) is against us, maybe that tells us something'? Plus, Russians competing-and being feted if they win-would be pretty hard to take for Ukranians. And, if sport is an exception, what about, say, privately owned businesses-it's not their fault so should they be allowed to trade? And so it could go on, potentially eroding-to a point- the West's stand against Russia.

On the other hand, maybe there's a case for letting athletes perform under a neutral flag? I don't know. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

it's definitely an interesting debate.
it can be some can of warms here...

But it just all sounds ridiculous - let's all hate them, may be they'll open their eyes. Something like "let's all good people kill all the bad people".
The point for it, as you say, "ordinary folk open their eyes". They won't because of propaganda. The actual result is entire world ordinary folk think that it is ok just to ban someone based on nationality. Like german restaurant not welcoming russian citizens. Germans, the irony.
Also, was it hard to take for some Iraqi kid to see Serena and Venus Williams lifting Wimbledon plate year after year?

I see that you were trying to see some valid point in Toptoon post, so I'm not here like arguing with you, but just offering some other perspective.

P.S. Ladies tournament used to be less predicatble, but cant see Emma going to 2nd week. Iga Swiatek probably takes it