As is well known, both Russia and Belarus have played the role of international outcasts due to the outbreak of a bloody war of conquest in Ukraine, and as a result, the athletes of these countries are also overwhelmingly excluded from all competitions.
One of the few exceptions is tennis on the ATP and WTA circuits, however, they are only allowed to start under a neutral status without indicating nationality and symbols. According to the original rules, fans could bring flags and other symbols of the two war aggressors into the area, but they were not allowed to display them provocatively.
One of the fans pulled out the Russian flag, for example, on the very first day of play at the match between the Ukrainian Kateryna Baindlova and the Russian Kamilla Rachimova (7:5, 6:7, 6:1), another one also appeared at the match between Daniil Medvedev and Marcos Giron (6 :0, 6:1, 6:2).
Russian and Belarusian flags have been banned from the Australian Open, the governing body for tennis in Australia said, after fans displayed a Russian flag at a match between a Russian and a Ukrainian a day earlier. https://t.co/XzFV7LtPid
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 17, 2023
“I fundamentally condemn the public display of the Russian flag during the match of Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindlova at the Australian Open. I ask the Australian union to immediately start enforcing its own neutral flag policy,” Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko responded to the events via social networks.
The diplomat went on to say that he would initiate a meeting with the leadership of the Australian Association on why it does not follow the example of Wimbledon, which excluded both the Russians and the Belarusians completely regardless of the threats and sanctions that this entails for the tournament.
“In the face of genocidal war crimes, there is no room for neutrality,” the ambassador said.
The organizers of the Grand Slam tournament responded by completely removing the Russian and Belarusian flags from Melbourne Park with immediate effect.
“Flags of Russia and Belarus are prohibited on the Australian Open grounds. Our original rules were that fans could bring them, but not use them in a way that caused outrage. Yesterday we had an incident where the flag was displayed right on the court. The ban is effective immediately. We will work with players and fans to ensure an environment where they can enjoy tennis,” the Australian Open said in a statement.
