Tennis Australia on Tuesday banned Russian and Belarusian flags at the Australian Open after Ukraine’s ambassador demanded motion after they have been seen among the many crowd.
Moscow referred to as the ban an “unacceptable politicisation of sports”.
The pink, white and blue stripes of Russia have been held up by followers throughout Monday’s first-round conflict between Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl and Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova on day one.
Ukrainian followers reportedly referred to as safety and police to the stands.
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A Russian flag was additionally unfurled on Rod Laver Arena throughout Daniil Medvedev’s conflict with American Marcos Giron.
“Flags from Russia and Belarus are banned onsite at the Australian Open,” Tennis Australia stated in a press release.
“Our preliminary coverage was that followers may convey them in however couldn’t use them to trigger disruption. Yesterday, we had an incident the place a flag was positioned courtside.
“The ban is effective immediately. We will continue to work with the players and our fans to ensure the best possible environment to enjoy the tennis.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian gamers have usually competed beneath a impartial white flag as independents, as is the case at the Australian Open.
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Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, had late Monday referred to as on Tennis Australia to take motion.
Condemning the show of flags
“I strongly condemn the public display of the Russian flag during the game of the Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindl at the Australian Open,” he tweeted.
“I call on Tennis Australia to immediately enforce its ‘neutral flag’ policy.”
The diplomat final week urged the Australian Open to ban Russian and Belarusian gamers solely, the latter as a result of Belarus’s help of Vladimir Putin.
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Wimbledon went down that route final yr, barring gamers from each international locations, resulting in the match being stripped of its rating factors by the ATP and WTA.
Prior to the flag ban, former Australian ambassador to Ukraine, Doug Trappett, who served within the function from 2015 to 2016, slammed Australian Open organisers.
Writing on Twitter, he referred to as it “embarrassing”.
“You could have banned Russian players and positioned yourself to give a robust response to such predictable incidents but you chose spinelessness,” he tweeted.
‘Intimidation’
Russia’s embassy in Australia hit again at the ban, calling it “another example of unacceptable politicisation of sports”.
“On top of already discriminating against Russian tennis players with its ‘neutral flag’ policy, Tennis Australia now went further by making sure they can not be visibly supported by their fans,” it stated in a press release.
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“It is indeed regrettable to see the tournament organisers give in to overt and rather arrogant political manipulation sacrificing the spirit of fair play once inherent to the Australian Open.”
Baindl received her match 7-5, 6-7, (8/10), 6-1 and can face American Caty McNally within the second spherical.
Ukrainian-Australian fan Maria Tumarkin advised the Melbourne Age newspaper she was the one who referred to as safety, claiming Russian followers have been heckling Baindl.
“This is profoundly unsafe, the war is ongoing,” she stated. “It’s a small court, the guys were extremely close to the players, so there was an element of what I felt was intimidation.”
Belarusian world quantity 5 Aryna Sabalenka stated she had no objection to the flag ban “if everyone feels better this way”.
But she additionally believes that sport “is nothing to do with politics”.
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“I have zero control on it. What can I say? They did it, okay, no flags,” added Sabalenka, among the many gamers affected by the Wimbledon ban final yr.
Asked if she may perceive how some Ukrainian followers could possibly be upset by seeing Russian or Belarusian flags, she replied: “I’m pretty sure they (are) upset about that, and, if Tennis Australia made this decision to make them feel better, okay.”
By Martin Parry © Agence France-Presse