TENNIS-POLAND (PHOTO) – REUTERS Agency
WARSAW, Jul 22 (Reuters) – Poland has barred Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva from entering its territory for reasons of state security and public safety, the Polish Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
The 38-year-old tennis player, a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was on the player list for the BNP Paribas Warsaw Open that begins on Monday.
“The Border Guard prevented a Russian tennis player from entering Poland. Vera Zvonareva, using a visa issued by France, tried to enter our country on a flight from Belgrade to Warsaw,” the ministry said in a statement.
Zvonareva, who landed in Poland on Friday, is on a list of people considered undesirable in the country, according to the ministry.
“After arriving from Serbia, the tennis player stayed in the transit zone of Warsaw Chopin Airport and today after 12:00 she flew to Podgorica,” he added.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said on Saturday that it was aware of the situation.
“The safety and well-being of all players is one of the WTA’s top priorities,” she said in a statement. “Vera has left Poland and we will evaluate the matter further with the tournament.”
Poland has become one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies since Russia invaded the country in 2022 and has been denying entry to people who support Russian and Belarusian actions.
Tournament organizers did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Additional reporting by Tommy Lund and Pearl Josephine Nazare; Editing in Spanish by Carlos Serrano)
Source: Ambito
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