The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) temporarily deleted information in the profiles of Russian tennis players on the organization’s website on the night of Tuesday, March 1.
From the profiles of tennis players, photos and data on titles won, current rankings, prize money won and age disappeared for several hours. The tennis players remained in the WTA rankings, but the Russian flag did not appear in front of their names.
A few hours later, all the data returned. The reason for the disappearance of information is not specified.
It is worth noting that only Russian athletes lost data, while the rest of the information remained intact.
At the moment, the highest position in the WTA ranking among Russian tennis players is occupied by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 14th place. Also in the top hundred are Veronika Kudermetova (24th), Daria Kasatkina (26th), Lyudmila Samsonova (32nd), Ekaterina Alexandrova (50th), Varvara Gracheva (71st) and Anna Kalinskaya (86th).
It is noteworthy that on the eve of the Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina said that she refuses to play with Russian and Belarusian athletes because of the situation in Ukraine, and withdraws from the tournament in Monterrey (Mexico), where she was supposed to play with a rival from the Russian Federation Anastasia Potapova.
In addition, she called on tennis organizations to take a number of restrictive measures against players from the Russian Federation.
“I believe that the current situation requires a clear position from our organizations: ATP, WTA and ITF. Thus, we, the Ukrainian players, asked them to follow the recommendations of the IOC to allow citizens of Russia or Belarus to compete only as neutral athletes, without displaying any national symbols, colors, flags or anthems, ”she noted.
On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international sports federations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions. It was noted that the decision was connected with the Russian operation to protect Donbass.
On the same day, FIFA and UEFA decided to remove teams and clubs from the Russian Federation from participating in all competitions. In addition, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced its intention to suspend relations with Russian business partners and not hold competitions in Russia.
At the same time, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) suspended the Russian ice hockey team from participating in international matches. Because of this, Russia will not host the World Youth Championship in 2023. In addition, the IIHF suspended the Russian men’s team from participating in the 2022 World Championship in Finland, and the ROC women’s team, according to the organization’s decision, will not participate in the 2022 Women’s Ice Hockey World Championship.
Earlier, on February 26, the Paralympic Committees of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland made a joint statement on the application of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. They proposed to temporarily suspend Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the Paralympics. According to the Estonian broadcasting portal ERR, the sanctions are proposed to be established for an indefinite period, or at least “until the end of the aggression in Ukraine.”
The day before, the Polish basketball club Zielona Góra announced its withdrawal from the VTB United League, and the Spanish basketball club Barcelona decided not to fly to St. Petersburg for the Euroleague match against Russian Zenit.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. After that, the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian Federation of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout Ukraine. He also said that Kyiv is breaking off diplomatic relations with Moscow and withdrawing its diplomats from the embassy.
The situation in Donbass escalated on February 17, 2022. In the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces was reported, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
On February 21, the heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, asked Putin to recognize the independence of the republics. The corresponding decrees were signed in the evening of the same day. In the presence of the leaders of the republics, the President of the Russian Federation also signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and assistance. The documents were ratified the next day by both the republics themselves and the Russian State Duma.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kyiv blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
