Russian, Belarusian players denied entry for Prague WTA event
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A handful of Russian and Belarusian players, including Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, had been expected at the Prague event.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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PRAGUE – Czech police stopped a Russian tennis player from entering the country ahead of the WTA Prague Open tournament, organisers said on Friday, as a new government resolution banning athletes from Russia or Belarus caused the event to also scratch other competitors.
The competition starts on Monday and was expected to see a handful of Russian and Belarusian players, including Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina or Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich, competing as neutrals, without any national flag or symbol.
But the Czech government approved a resolution at the end of June banning athletes from the two countries from competing in events on its territory, allowing police to revoke visas to those nationals.
Tournament director Miroslav Maly said police had stopped one Prague Open participant from entering the country on Thursday, and organisers informed other Russian and Belarusian nationals not to travel for the tournament after the incident.
“She was the first participant to arrive at the Czech Republic with a Russian passport,” Maly said, adding that the player had already left the country.
“The management of the tournament fully respect the current stance of state authorities. We do not expect any player with Russian or Belarusian citizenship to take part in the tournament in this situation.”
The WTA reacted negatively to the exclusion of the players from its tournament.
“WTA rules state that all players must be allowed to compete on the WTA based solely on merit, without discrimination,” it said on messaging platform X, previously known as Twitter.
“We will continue to review the situation as we factor important considerations around these complex geopolitical issues.”
Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova won the Prague Open in 2022 and will defend her title.
PHOTO: AFP
Czech police had planned to make sure the government resolution was upheld for the tournament, a spokesman told CTK news agency on Thursday.
A week ago, Polish authorities also denied entry to Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva,
Central and eastern Europe states have been some of Ukraine’s staunchest allies since Russia invaded the country
Since June 2022, the Czech government has stopped issuing long-term visas to Russian citizens, who can gain entry only through short-term visas if they have relatives with European Union citizenship or are seeking entry on humanitarian grounds.
Czech world No. 29 Marie Bouzkova, who lost to compatriot and eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon in July, won the Prague Open in 2022 and will defend her title.
The tournament will also feature China’s world No. 38 Zhu Lin and Zhang Shuai (45th) and France’s Alize Cornet, among the top seeds. REUTERS
