Polish Airlines LOT denied the Russian tennis player boarding the flight, the company confirmed, prompting an angry reaction from the athlete on social media.

In particular, Vitalia Dyachenko reported an incident on a LOT flight to Cairo, while the German airline Lufthansa also refused to issue a ticket to her.

“I slept at the airport, I was treated like a third-class citizen (because of my nationality), I spent several thousand euros,” wrote Dyachenko, who said she tried to travel to the tournament in Corsica via Warsaw and Nice.

In an emailed statement, LOT confirmed that it had prevented the 32-year-old passenger from boarding, citing restrictions imposed by the Polish Interior Ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic and remaining in place in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The provisions of the regulation introduce restrictions at certain border checkpoints, including at airports, in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation traveling outside the Schengen area,” the LOT said in a statement.

The European Union banned all flights from Russia and agreed to limit the visa-free regime in the Schengen area. In September, Finland joined the Baltic countries and Poland in closing their borders to Russian tourists.

Dyachenko, ranked 250th in the world, said she then tried to buy a ticket from Lufthansa, but the airline explained that she could only enter the Schengen area through Spain, which issued her a visa.

Unlike many other sports, tennis has not had a total ban on players from Russia and its ally Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine.

Wimbledon banned athletes from the two countries last year after the invasion but signaled in March that it would now accept them as neutral athletes.

Source: RES-IPE