Russian tennis player Dyachenko told how she was not allowed on board the plane because of Russian citizenship

Russian tennis player Vitalia Dyachenko spoke about the incident that happened to her during the departure for the ITF tournament in Nice.

Dyachenko was not allowed to board the Polish airline LOT Airlines due to the company’s policy not to transport citizens of the Russian Federation.

— Today I was denied a flight to the tournament in Corsica by Lot Airlines (Polish Airlines) in the direction of Cairo — Warsaw — Nice, since I am the owner of a Russian passport. Airline rules – ban Russian flights from Lot Airlines! I had all the letters of support from the WTA, ITF, but in modern tennis this does not change anything for reality.

End of story – I spent the night at the airport, I was treated like a third class citizen because of my nationality, I spent a couple of thousand euros (all these are small things) because, unfortunately, I do not have the opportunity to get to the tournament … Since there is no route due to airlines that “do not carry Russians” and restrictions in the visa situation. In the end, I can’t compete in the tournament and the only option is to go home and miss another game week because of this situation.

As a professional athlete who plays without a flag and does not represent his country, just loves his job, career, loves tennis all his life… is this fair to athletes who have nothing to do with this situation? I have been recovering from a serious injury for the last 6 months, I am being treated, I am training, I am again unable to play after a long break … I hope to be free from politics, racism and Nazism, Dyachenko wrote on the social network.

Dyachenko is the winner of one WTA tournament in doubles. The tennis player takes the 250th place in the world ranking.