Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia intends to meet with the organizers and achieve a ban on athletes from aggressor countries
Tennis Australia, the governing body of Australian tennis competitions, rejected request remove Russians and Belarusians from participating in Australian Open 2023. Athletes from aggressor countries will play in the tournament under a neutral flag.
“I will seek a meeting with the Chairman and CEO of Tennis Australia to set out my government’s position and understand why Tennis Australia has not followed Wimbledon’s example,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Miroshnichenko said.
Earlier, Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenko said that she feels “as if from nowhere”, speaking at international tournaments under a neutral status. The athlete said that she does not like to talk “on every corner” that she does not support the war.
Recall that in April, the organizers of Wimbledon decided to remove Russian and Belarusian tennis players from participation in the tournament in connection with the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. The decision to remove athletes from Russia and Belarus was supported by Andy Murray, as well as the Tennis Federation of Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.
Novak Djokovic and Andrei Rublev opposed the inadmissibility of representatives of the aggressor countries to Wimbledon. The ATP has filed a lawsuit against the National Tennis Governing Body in the UK, demanding a million dollars for the suspension of tennis players from Russia and Belarus.
“It doesn’t matter what flag Russian Federation players compete under. It has Ukrainian blood on it” – @AmbVasyl @AustralianOpen ban Russians from competing pic.twitter.com/1aaQQ5qUZQ
— Ukraine’s Embassy in Australia (@UKRinAUS) January 4, 2023
Source: Sportarena
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