Olympic champion in speed skating and deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Svetlana Zhurova reacted to Australian Open organizers’ decision to ban Russian and Belarusian flags from the stands during matches at the Melbourne tournament.
The banning of the flags of Russia and Belarus from the Australian Open was announced by the Australian Tennis Federation (Tennis Australia) on Tuesday, noting that “they will continue to work with players and fans to ensure the best conditions for the tournament”.
As noted, Russian flags were seen in the first-round match between Ukrainian Ekaterina Beindl and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova, as well as in the encounter between Daniil Medvedev and American Marcos Giron.
– Probably, the Ukrainian organizations and a number of others, the same British, apparently put a lot of pressure on the international federation. Allowing Russian flags to be in the stands now when Russian athletes compete is practically like allowing the Russian flag to be flown if they win. That’s why the restrictions were introduced, – said Zhurova in the program “All for the match!” on MatchTV.
The Australian Open started on January 16 and will end on January 29.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
