Russian and Belarussian flags will be banned from the Australian Open after a confrontation at a match on the first day of the tennis tournament, organizers said Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — Russian and Belarussian flags will be banned from the Australian Open after a confrontation at a match on the first day of the tennis tournament, organizers said Tuesday.
Fans waved a Russian flag at a first-round match between Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova and Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl, prompting Ukrainian fans to call security and police, The Age newspaper reported.
“Flags from Russia and Belarus are banned onsite at the Australian Open,” Tennis Australia said in a statement Tuesday. “Our initial policy was that fans could bring them in but could not use them to cause disruption. Yesterday we had an incident where a flag was placed courtside.”
The controversy comes as the Melbourne tournament tries to move on from last year’s drama-filled event, which was dominated by the ban and deportation of player Novak Djokovic after the unvaccinated star sought to bypass Covid rules that have since been scrapped.
Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko earlier took to Twitter on Monday evening to condemn the flag display.
–With assistance from Amy Bainbridge.
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