Organizers of the Czech tennis tournament took the path of national discrimination sign. One Russian athlete was deported directly from the Prague airport, while others were strongly advised not to even try to enter the country.
The police deployed a Russian woman at the borderThe situation with the refusal of Russian tennis players to enter the country to participate in competitions is beyond reasonable. First, the Poles excelled, who did not let the Olympic medalist Vera Zvonareva to the WTA tournament in Warsaw. She was told that she was an «undesirable» person in Poland and was on the list of persons who threatened the country's national security.
This is both funny and sad at the same time. On the one hand, it is absurd to think that Zvonareva is a real threat to the security of Poland. On the other hand, the Russian woman was deprived of the opportunity to do her job without explaining anything. By the way, Polish Minister of Sports Kamil Bortnichuk said before the start of the tournament that he would boycott matches in which Russian and Belarusian tennis players would take part.
After the Poles, the Czechs did the same. The organizers of the WTA 250 tournament happily announced that the Czech police did not let the Russian tennis player into the country. She arrived in Prague, but the police turned her around at the border and deported her. At first, the name of the athlete was not called, but sport.pl found out that this was Evgenia Rodina, who was on the preliminary list of participants in the competition.
According to the organizer of the tournament, Miroslav Mala, she was the first Russian athlete to come to the Czech Republic to participate in competitions, and the rest of the tennis players from Russia and Belarus «were informed that they may not come to the upcoming tournament.»
«We do not expect that in this situation any tennis player with Russian or Belarusian citizenship will take part in the tournament,» the CTK news agency quotes Mala as saying.
The rest were not allowed in. Literally a day later, it turned out that the Olympic champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova would also not be able to compete in Prague due to the decision of the Czech authorities. The Russian has just started to get into shape this season, so the opportunity to play in the Czech Republic would be a good preparation for her before the American tour and the US Open. But, apparently, her presence in the country also «threatened national security.»
«»As you saw in the previous post, I will not be able to take part in the tournament in Prague next week. I will continue my training on hard before the series tournaments in the USA. I'm waiting for you in Cincinnati and at the US Open,» Pavlyuchenkova wrote on social networks.
But that's not all. After Rodina was denied entry, the other Russians who were scheduled to play in the tournament qualifiers — Diana Schneider, Polina Kudermetova and Erica Andreeva — were told that «they had better not come to the Czech Republic.» That is, there can no longer be any justification for this decision. Absolutely all our tennis players cannot be threats to Czech security. And this means that there is pure discrimination based on nationality.
Hasek and two Russians It is curious that two Russians still play tennis in this country. We are talking about Kirill Kivattsev and Denis Klok, who perform at the Challenger in Liberec. Police spokesman for foreigners Josef Urban told iDNES.cz that both are legally in the country. Tournament director Tomasz Tresek noted that Kivattsev applied for Italian citizenship, and Klok was originally Ukrainian, and received Russian citizenship after the reunification of Crimea with Russia. That is, according to Trsek, a Russian passport is not valid in this case.
Of course, the former goalkeeper of Spartak and the Czech Republic national team Dominik Hasek did not stay away from what was happening, who called for a press conference with the participation two Russian tennis players to express their position on the conflict in Ukraine. As conceived by Hasek, this will allow them to decide whether they can be in the Czech Republic or not.
The most important thing, of course, lies elsewhere. We need the reaction of the WTA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Thomas Bach has repeatedly stated that he categorically does not support such manifestations of discrimination. Well, it's time to deal with the Czech organizers.