Russian and Belarusian tennis players are not allowed to attend the tournament in Prague, says Foreign Minister Lipavský. Russian woman caught by foreign police, had to leave the Czech Republic

The start of the Livesport Prague Open tennis tournament is approaching, and some star local players will not be missing. However, tennis players from Russia and Belarus have also submitted their entries. Their participation in the event is under discussion, the political position is clear and uncompromising.

The Prague Open is already a traditional summer event. Currently, the WTA 250 category tournament starts on Monday 31 July and ends on Sunday 6 August, so it will run for the whole coming week.

The home fans will also be in for a treat. The main star will be Barbora Krejcikova, and the promising 18-year-old Linda Noskova will also be present. Six years older Marie Bouzkova will defend her title and 37-year-old Barbora Strýcová will also be in action.

However, Russian player Yevgenia Rodina has entered the competition and the organisers have also announced the entry of Belarusian tennis player Alieksandra Sasnovich. Their participation was and still is a subject of discussion.

The legendary hockey player Dominik Hasek, who has been strongly criticizing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling for stop signs for Russian and Belarusian athletes, was not afraid to criticize the NHL.

Now we know the attitude not only of the political scene. In fact, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky confirmed to Seznam Zpravy that a government resolution banning athletes representing Russia and Belarus is in force.

“We expect the associations to respect this. It is up to the Interior Ministry to check whether the athletes are here in accordance with the rules,” Lipavsky was quoted as saying.

Marek Zhenishek, chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, was even more pointed, reacting, among other things, to a recent incident in which a Ukrainian fencer was disqualified after winning against a Russian opponent because she refused to shake her hand.

“The case of the Ukrainian fencer showed that Russian athletes support war to a large extent and see sport as a propaganda tool. Let them show that in their own country. Not in our country,” Zhenishek said.

In addition, tournament organizers informed the media on Friday that the Russian tennis player was intercepted at Václav Havel International Airport and given a deadline to leave the Czech Republic. Russian and Belarusian players were then told not to travel to the tournament.

Source: Livesport Prague Open, Seznam Zprávy, Ondřej Koutník, iDNES