PRAGUE – The Prague Open, a women’s tennis event, has announced that Russian and Belarusian players will be prohibited from participating in the upcoming tournament. The decision was made in response to political tensions and a recent incident involving a Russian player being prevented from entering the country by the police, according to the tournament organizers.
Miroslav Malý, the director of the hard-court tournament, refrained from disclosing the name of the affected player but confirmed that she was the first participant with a Russian passport to attempt entry into the country. In light of the situation, organizers communicated with other Russian and Belarusian players through the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to advise them against traveling to Prague for the event.
Among the players affected by the exclusion were Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus, who was scheduled to compete in the singles category, and three Russian players, namely Diana Shnaider, Polina Kudermetova, and Erika Andreeva, who were set to participate in the qualifying rounds. The WTA Tour allows Russians and Belarusians to compete in tournaments as neutral athletes, but the Czech government has taken measures to ban athletes from these countries from participating in sports competitions on Czech territory due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This is not the first instance of tennis players facing restrictions due to the ongoing political situation. Recently, Russian player Vera Zvonareva was banned from entering Poland for a WTA tournament in Warsaw.
The decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players from the Prague Open highlights the complexities of international sports events amid geopolitical tensions and reflects the impact of political decisions on sports competitions.