Politics and sports. A debate many fans did not want, but it is still here. Due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, we have seen this debate coming up again and again, especially in press conferences of players hailing from the countries in question. And the Belarusian player, Victoria Azarenka, is tired of it. In the post-match conference after her loss at the semi-finals of the Australian Open, she retorted with vigor at journalists who come with questions related to her stance on Russian supporters in the match of Novak Djokovic.

Victoria Azarenka shuts down a journalist over her Russian stance 

Azarenka had just faced a straight-set defeat against Elena Rybakina. However, it irked her that the journalists at the post-match conference had questions regarding her political stance and were not concerned about her match. So, she shut down one persistent journalist, who did not pay much heed to her warning.

At the post-match conference, a journalist asked her about her emotions toward the supporters carrying the Russian flag. To this, she said, “Whatever the answer I’m going to give it to you right now, it’s going to be turned whichever way you want to turn it to.” Azarenka went on and stated, “So does it bother me? What bothers me is there’s real things that are going on in the world. I don’t know.” Moreover, she also had some questions for them. She asked, “Are you a politician? Are you? Are you covering politics?”

And when the reporter stated that they are a sports journalist, she said, “And I’m an athlete. You’re asking me about things that maybe somebody says are in my control, but I don’t believe that.” Leaving some things to ponder on the media ethics, she stated, “I don’t know what you want me to answer. If it’s a provocative question, then you can spin the story however you want.”

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The Belarusian player was banned last year from playing at Wimbledon. Unsurprisingly, she missed playing the grass-court major, and the ban got a backlash from top-tier players like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Azarenka defends Novak Djokovic amidst a heated Russian debate

Recently, after the quarterfinal victory of Djokovic, his father was seen hanging out with the Russian supporters. Subsequently, Djokovic became a target for heavy criticism as people came at him for his father’s stance.

When asked about it, Victoria Azarenka defended Djokovic in the post-match conference. In addition to asking people why it has become an issue about Djokovic, she also posed yet another question to the media world questioning their goal in the first place.

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Now the question arises, should sports journalism stick to its own realm? Or is it affecting the players on a deeper level than visible to the naked eye? Let us know your views in the comments below.