The Australian tennis federation banned the Russian and Belarusian flags from the Australian Open on Tuesday, at the request of Ukraine’s ambassador in Canberra, after fans displayed the Russian flag.
“Russian and Belarusian flags are banned from the Australian Open venue,” Tennis Australia said, adding that the ban took effect “immediately”.
“Our initial policy was that fans could bring them but not display them for the purpose of causing disruption,” the association added in a statement.
The Russian flag was displayed at Melbourne Park on Monday, on the first day of the Australian Open, in the first round match between Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl and Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova.
In the stands, supporters of the Ukrainian tennis player called for the intervention of the security services and the police.
A Russian flag was also displayed at the Rod Laver Arena during the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev and American Marcos Giron.
“I strongly condemn the public display of Russian flags during the Australian Open match of Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindl,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Canberra Vasyl Myroshnychenko wrote on Twitter.
Myroshnychenko had called on Tennis Australia on Monday to ensure that the “neutral flag policy” is enforced at the Australian Open.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, various sports have forced Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under neutral flags, including the Australian Open.
Last week, the diplomat had called for a ban on Russian and Belarusian players at the Australian Open, something the Wimbledon tournament, also part of the Grand Slam, did in 2022.
Diplomat Doug Trappett, who was Australia’s ambassador to Ukraine between 2015 and 2016, also said on Twitter that Tennis Australia could have “positioned itself to respond seriously to these foreseeable incidents, but chose cowardice”.
Belarus supports the Russian military offensive, which has so far caused the flight of more than 14 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.9 million to European countries-, according to the latest UN data, that lists this refugee crisis as the worst. in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Right now, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion was condemned by the broader international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 7,031 dead civilians and 11,327 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
