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Russian tennis player barred from entering Poland for WTA tournament

Vera Zvonareva was on the list of undesirable individuals in the country, the ministry said

MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Polish authorities have not let Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva enter the country to take part in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournament in Warsaw, the Polish Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"Yesterday, on July 21, border guards stopped a Russian tennis player from entering Poland," the ministry said. "The Russian was on the list of undesirable individuals in Poland and was barred from entering Poland for security reasons."

Zvonareva flew to Warsaw from Belgrade with a visa issued by France and after arriving from Serbia was in the transit zone of Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, the ministry said. On Saturday at 12:00 local time (1 p.m. Moscow time) the athlete took a Warsaw-Podgorica flight.

The WTA BNP Paribas Warsaw Open, in which Zvonareva was to take part, will be held on July 24-30. Earlier, the Polish Sport and Tourism Ministry claimed that it has no legal instruments for admission of Russian and Belarusian tennis players to tournaments inside the country.