Should Wimbledon Bar Players from Russia and Belarus?

 AN EDITED VERSION OF THIS POST IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR IN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

("Wimbledon Plans to Bar Players from Russia and Belarus")

Are athletes, not performing under the flag of their country, to be banned from competition by reason of their place of residence? What sin have they committed?

Are we to treat these men and women as a mere extension of their nation's failings? Arguing that the number two male tennis player in the world or the number four woman's player is not permitted to perform because it might be considered a point of pride for their homeland should they prove victorious?

This is not 1936 Berlin. Not a black American, Jesse Owens, winning four Olympic gold medals and making a definitive, defiant statement to Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. Wimbledon may be a most prestigious event, but don't pretend it is more than that.

Let the players play. And don't make it a condition that they swear an oath against Mr. Putin. Echoes of Joseph McCarthy "are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party" a scathing indictment of the question posed. Don't treat a tennis match as a battle of good vs evil, of right against wrong.

Don't make these athletes symbols. They don't deserve our  reprobation or denunciation. They should be permitted the right to win or lose on the court.

Not off it.