Australian Open Bans Russian and Belarusian Flags from Tournament After Ukraine Protests

Following a courtside altercation, the Australian Open tennis tournament has banned the use of the Russian and Belarusian flags.

Initially, spectators were allowed to bring the flags into Melbourne Park as long as they did not cause “disruption.”

But on Tuesday January 17, after spectators waved a Russian flag during a match between Russian Kamilla Rakhimova and Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl, the organizers changed their minds to put the ban into immediate effect.

“We will continue to work with the players and our fans to ensure the best possible environment to enjoy the tennis,” Tennis Australia said in a statement.

A report that Russian fans were “taunting” Baindl prompted Ukrainian fans to allegedly contact police and security to the first-round encounter on Monday January 16.

“This is profoundly unsafe, the war is ongoing,” one fan said.
“It’s a small court, the guys were extremely close to the players, so there was an element of what I felt was intimidation.”

However, one of the involved Russian guys claimed that his group had only been cheering on their countrywoman.
“People can view that as being obnoxious but we were just being your normal supporters. There was no ridiculing or disrespect”, he said.

Tennis Australia had been urged to take action by the ambassador of Ukraine to Australia and New Zealand.

Since the invasion of Ukraine started in February of last year, athletes from Russia and Belarus have been prohibited from competing under the flags of their countries in a variety of sports, including tennis.

While athletes from the two countries compete at the Australian Open under a neutral white flag, they were completely barred from Wimbledon in 2022.

The Association of Tennis Professionals and Women’s Tennis Association subsequently levied fines against the organizers and deducted the tournament’s ranking points. According to the WTA, players’ rights to fair opportunities to compete must be upheld.

Tennis Australia had made the right choice, according to the Victorian state government on Tuesday.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is abhorrent,” acting premier Jancinta Allan said. “It breaches international human rights obligations. It’s been enabled and supported by Belarus. [This] sends a very, very clear message that human rights are important, whether it’s in sport, or more broadly in our community.”

The ban was put in place after Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostyuk declared she would not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents because she felt they had not done enough to denounce the invasion.

Author-Roberta Appiah