Though it bears no earthly comparison to the torturous damage Vladimir Putin’s military is savaging upon Ukraine, the difficulty that Russia’s senseless aggression has inflicted on the global sports community continues to grow.
Brittney Griner, star center for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, is instead, as of Friday, at the center of one of Russia’s infamous show trials, the kind where prosecutors basically just read an inflated set of charges while the accused stands by implacably in a steel cage. Do they have one that can hold a 6-foot-9 WNBA superstar?
Griner was arrested for allegedly bringing cannabis oil into Russia as she arrived to play her income-supplementing summer in the Russian Premier League. Had Russia not invaded Ukraine in February and this happened in peace time, the whole mess would have ended with a few diplomatic phone calls. Instead, with Russia under withering U.S. and global economic sanctions, Griner is looking at 10 years of hard time, as only about one percent of these trials end in acquittal. Because, um, Russia.
Also, if Brittney Griner were named Steph Curry, for example, things would be very different. More on that in a minute.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon is underway, maybe you’ve heard, but without any Russian or Belarusian players, for reasons better stated by the official correspondence of the All England Club:
“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian player with The Championships. It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022.”
“We recognize that this is hard on the individuals affected,” said Ian Hewitt, club chairman. “and it is with sadness that they will suffer from the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime.”
Wimbledon’s reluctant move drew swift condemnation for the Association of Tennis Professionals, which countered by stripping the tournament of its ratings points.
“The ability of players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination is fundamental to our Tour,” the ATP said in a statement. It then added that the ban on Russian players undermined the ATP ranking system.
Well, I’m surprised that didn’t end the war right there! It’s funny that in his unrelenting and wholly justified criticism of Russia’s aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has never said, “Hey, don’t you Russians realize you’re screwing up the tennis rankings!”
Elsewhere, the National Hockey League has been hoping against all realistic hope that the situation in Ukraine will de-escalate or that everyone will forget that about four dozen of its players, including some of the best in the world, are Russians, including at least two who were, at least at one time, very public supporters of Putin: Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins.
The league has no stomach for even considering sanctions on its Russian players, which would in turn punish its franchises, but it can’t pretend interminably that Russia’s aggression matters little to its fans. Support for Ukraine remains pervasive throughout the league’s cities. When Toronto and Buffalo played an outdoor game in Hamilton, Ontario, the ceremonial puck was dropped by Artur Cholach of the Barrie Colts, the only Ukrainian in the Ontario Hockey League.
Now, as the draft looms, the league hasn’t indicated whether it will impose a ban on Russian-born players, but such sentiment appears to be moving in from the margins. The Canadian Hockey League just announced that Russian and Belarusian players will not be eligible for the 2022 Import Draft.
All of these problems go directly to the perceived value of the sports and the leagues involved. If Brittany Griner were Steph Curry, an NBA superstar, diplomatic efforts to bring her back might be a little more intense.
As California-based immigration lawyer Gabriel Castro explained to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “(Griner) does have value here, but we are not going to end sanctions over a detainee by any means.”
Particularly when the detainee is from the WNBA, which has had four months to bring pressure on the matter and essentially gotten nowhere. The NBA, perceived as a far more dynamic global player, would doubtless have done better.
Wimbledon’s perception of itself is also on full display here. It considers The Championships to be a global stage not to be exploited for pernicious propaganda rather than a three-week tennis tournament for the bemusement of British aristocrats.
For the moment, the NHL can continue to posture that it’s just not as politically important as Wimbledon (it’s not terribly difficult) and try to run out the clock, but if Russia escalates the war in Ukraine – it bombed a mall filled with people there Monday -- things could get a lot stickier.
As for Griner, her optimal outcome would be a trade, and there’s no shortage of speculation on one in the international press. Outlets as diverse as TASS and Forbes have said that Griner could be sent back to the United States in exchange for imprisoned gun-runner Viktor Bout. In April, the Russians sent former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed home in exchange for convicted drug-running pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.
But all urgency remains purely political. There is no international diplomacy trade deadline.
Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com and Twitter @genecollier.
First Published: July 2, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
