Organisers ban Russian and Belarusian flags at Australian Open 

The presence of a Russian flag in the stands at Melbourne Park during an Australian Open match has prompted organisers to announce a ban on Russian and Belarusian flags during the tournament.

The red, white and blue stripes of the Russian flag were visible in the crowd during the first-round match on court 14 between Ukraine's Kateryna Baindl and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
Tennis Australia, which had initially said fans were allowed to bring the flags in if they did not cause a disruption, changed its policy after the game.

it advised in a statement "flags from Russia and Belarus are banned onsite at the Australian Open.

"Our initial policy was that fans could bring them in but could not use them to cause disruption. Yesterday we had an incident where a flag was placed courtside.

"The ban is effective immediately."

Russian and Belarusian players have been playing under no flag in many sports since the invasion of Ukraine last February.

On the same day the ban was announced, a Russian flag was held up by fans in the stands at John Cain Arena during the match between Russian Andrey Rublev and Austria's Dominic Thiem.

That match started before the ban was in place and finished after it was announced.

Ukraine Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said the Russian flag is a symbol of the "all the atrocities that Ukrainians have to go through."

"It was a very emotional moment for the tennis player but everybody who could see it, more so, we've learned that those Russians were not just displaying the flag but they were also mocking the Ukrainian player."

The Ukraine Ambassador said he welcomed the decision to ban the Russian and Belarusian flags from Melbourne Park.

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