Moscow: Banning our flag from the Australian Tennis Championship is politicizing sports

Canberra (ST): The Russian Ambassador to Australia Alexei Pavlovsky described the banning of the Russian and Belarusian flags in the stands of the Australian Open tennis tournament as an”unacceptable politicization of sport.”

Pavlovsky was quoted by TASS news agency as saying “In addition to the discrimination against Russian tennis players who are forced to play under a neutral flag, the Australian Tennis Federation, during the match that brought together Russian Kamila Rakhimova and Ukrainian Yekaterina Bendel, went to ban Russian fans in the stands from showing support for our athletes as well. It is unfortunate that the organizers of the Australian Open have succumbed to overt political manipulation.”

It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasily Miroshnichenko, called on the Australian Tennis Federation to implement a neutral flag policy after a Russian fan appeared wearing a shirt with the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

K.Q.