Sergiy Stakhovsky and Ukraine’s Ambassador condemn Australian Open after Russian flags were on display during Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl’s match
Tennis Australia is condemned by the Ukrainian ambassador and their players as Russian flag was spotted inside the stadium breaching the Australian Open tournament policies.
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Russian flag spotted during the Australian Open 2023.
The controversial scenes intensified on the first day of the Australian Open 2023 itself when a group of Russians came with their national flag, that, too, when Ukrainian players were in action. Although the Australian Open didn’t deny entrance to the Russian and Belurassian players, they are allowed to play only under a neutral flag. Display of the Russian flag was not taken lightly by the Ukrainian authorities. Their Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, sought an explanation from Tennis Australia.
Vasyl posted on Twitter, “I strongly condemn the public display of the Russian flag during the game of the Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindl at the Australian Open today. I call on Tennis Australia to immediately enforce its “neutral flag” policy“. The tweet got a lot of interactions, as expected. The incident happened during the first-round match between Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl and the Russian Kamilla Rakhimova. Baindl went on to beat the Russian 7-5,6-7,6-1.
The tweet by the Ukrainian ambassador was later retweeted by the retired Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky simply quoting “…..” as a question to the authorities for letting the Russians do this. As per the terms and conditions of the tournament, any form of political banners is not allowed inside the stadium. The Russian flag is considered to be a political banner due to obvious reasons.
The Australian Open has specific rules relating to Russian players
The Australian Open has specific rules for the Russian and Belurasian players in the context of the ongoing war. Their terms and conditions itself take a dig at the use of the Russian flags inside the stadium, “flags, banners, signs larger than 180cm by 90cm in size or with handles longer than 50cm” as well as “unauthorized promotional, commercial, political, religious or offensive items of whatever nature including clothing, banners, signs, symbols, leaflets, stickers or flyers.”
Before the start of the tournament, tournament director of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley made it clear that the Russian and Belurasian players will be allowed under a neutral flag. He had said, “At this point, Russian and Belarusian players will be eligible to play in the Australian Open.”
“The only difference will be that they cannot represent Russia. They cannot represent the flag of Russia. They cannot participate in any activity such as the anthem of Russia. And they have to play as independent players under a neutral name. But they will be welcome to the Australian Open in January.”
With the breaching of the policies on the first day itself, Tennis Australia is expected to take strict actions and precautions from now on.
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Vipul Payattuparambil
(552 Articles Published)