Poland remains one of the main countries that strongly opposes the return of Russia to world sports. The organizers of the tennis tournament in the city of Grodzisk-Mazowiecki recommended our and Belarusian athletes not to apply for the tournament, although this is contrary to the policy of the ATP and WTA.

Wimbledon example did not teach anything?

Wimbledon example

Last year, the only Grand Slam tournament where Russian and Belarusian tennis players were not invited was Wimbledon. The same decision was made by the organizers of a number of British tennis competitions from the All England Club. But even the British, who are opposed to our country, succumbed to the ATP and WTA this year. Russians and Belarusians had to be allowed to compete.

Our athletes quite successfully performed at the tournament and even made the local fans and part of the press fall in love with them. One of the journalists did not even hesitate to call the Russians “winners of Wimbledon.” But we are talking about the British, who did everything to spoil the World Cup in Russia and called for us to be removed from international competitions: first because of doping cases, and then for political reasons. However, even on the island they began to understand that many of our tennis players are happy.

Poland is another matter. There, the level of hate towards the Russians just rolls over. At the end of April of this year, the Polish airline LOT refused to let our Russian Vitalia Dyachenko on board solely because of her citizenship. The poor girl was forced to spend almost a day at the airport.

This time, the organizers of the tournament in the city of Grodzisk-Mazowiecki distinguished themselves. What the sports functionaries did looks like a provocation…

Photo: © Simon M Bruty / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

strange statement

The Poles did not recommend Russian and Belarusian players to apply for participation in the competition. The Challenger Tournament website states that their performance is discouraged and access to the tournament venue is not guaranteed.

“Players from Russia and Belarus are not welcome at the tournament and at the Kozerki sports complex,” the organizers said in a statement.

The astonishing hypocrisy of the Poles, who are trying to circumvent the rules set by the ATP and WTA in this way! The leadership of world tennis has made it clear that it will not tolerate discrimination based on nationality. If we managed to put the squeeze on the organizers of Wimbledon, then there would be no problems with the Polish tournament. Another thing is that everything here is tied to tricks. Formally, the Poles do not prohibit anything, but through the so-called recommendations, they block the road to competitions for Russians and Belarusians.

It remains to wait for the reaction of the ATP and WTA. I would like to believe that the world tennis bosses understand what exactly happened and this provocation will not go unnoticed.