As Moscow faces unprecedented sanctions for war against Ukraine, the West has led a break with the long-standing convention against politics mixing with sport in banning Russia from most international events.
But for many Arabs, who have seen their own sportsmen and women punished for refusing to compete with Israelis in protest at successive wars, the exception made for a European conflict smacks of double standards.
Egyptian squash champion Ali Farag said “nobody should be happy about what’s going (on in Ukraine)”.
“We’ve never been allowed to speak about politics in sports but all of a sudden now it’s allowed,” he said this month.
“Now that it’s allowed, I hope that people also look at oppression everywhere in the world. -Agencies
