Russian tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova confirmed today that she was banned from entering the territory of the Czech Republic, where she was supposed to participate in the WTA tournament in Prague.
On Friday, the Czech Ministry of the Interior announced that the Russian player was denied entry to the country at the airport in Prague, without specifying her identity.
"I will not be able to participate in the tournament in Prague next Sunday. I am continuing my hard preparations for the American series. See you in Cincinnati," Pavlyuchenkova wrote on Instagram.
She also shared a statement from the WTA stating that "athletes are prohibited from entering the Czech Republic".
"Despite their neutrality, the Czech authorities are denying some female tennis players the opportunity to participate in the tournament in Prague next Sunday," the WTA said in a statement.
In June, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Czech government approved a ban on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions on the territory of that country.
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