“We do not have a lot of power to make changes”: Kostyuk comments on IOC president arguing case for Russian and Belarusian participation

Marta Kostyuk lamented the fact that players didn't have much power after the IOC president argued on the behalf of Russian and Belarussian players.

Ukrainians want to completely exclude all Russian and Belarussians from any sporting competitions due to the fact that many of their athletes are back home in a war that Russia started. Many promising athletes already perished in the fighting with Ukrainians furious that Russian athletes are given a chance to play at sporting events.

Kostyuk has been one of the most active players in that regard but all of her meetings fall through because nobody wants to listen. IOC president Bach even used her win over Gracheva in the Austin final to reinforce his point that the athletes don't cause any friction in sports. That point enraged the Ukrainian side even more with Kostyuk explaining:

"We have a ranking system in our sport. If I don't participate, I will lose my ranking and my career will be over. She added:

"A lot has been said, and I wanted to say from myself, we have not been doing it publicly, but for the last year we have been fighting to exclude Russians and Belarusians from our sport. Unfortunately we are not independent players. We are working for WTA and ATP organizations, and we do not have a lot of power to make changes."

The whole situation looks like an utter mess and it doesn't seem like there will any resolution that will be acceptable to both sides.