An unnamed tennis player from Russia was apparently rejected on her way to the WTA tournament in Prague when entering the Czech Republic. “During the control of a Russian citizen at the airport, the national police justified the cancellation of her temporary residence permit,” the Czech Interior Ministry said on Friday evening. The player has already left the country.
The women’s world association WTA also commented on the incident via Twitter. The WTA confirmed that despite its neutrality, “some WTA players are being refused by the Czech government authorities from participating in the WTA 250 event, which is scheduled to take place in Prague next week”.
The association referred to the WTA regulations, according to which professionals must be able to participate in the tournaments “exclusively on the basis of their performance and without discrimination”. The situation will now be further examined.
There was a similar case last week: The Russian Wera Swonarewa, doubles partner of the German Laura Siegemund, was denied further travel from Warsaw Airport to the WTA tournament there in Poland, even though she could show a visa issued in France. Because of the war in Ukraine, she is on the list of “undesirable people” in Poland, according to the Polish Ministry of the Interior.
2023-07-29 05:45:14
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