Olympic speed skating champion and Russian State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova reacted to the decision of the Australian Open tennis organizers to ban Russian and Belarusian flags from the stands during the matches of the tournament in Melbourne.
The ban on the flags of Russia and Belarus at 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 during the first round match between Ukrainian Ekaterina Beindl and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova, as well as during the meeting 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 the same as allowing the Russian flag to be raised if they win. That’s why the restrictions were introduced, – said Zhurova in the program “All for the Match!” on Match TV.
The Australian Open started on January 16th and will end on January 29th.