Polish airline denies passage to Russian tennis pro

Poland's PLL LOT national airline has refused passage to a Russian women's tennis pro owing to her Russian citizenship.

The tennis player, Vitalia Diatchenko, was underway from Cairo to a tournament in Corsica and wanted to change planes in Warsaw.

In a statement to PAP, LOT said it was unable to let Diatchenko on board any of its aircraft as this would violate a government decree limiting air travel between Poland and the Russian Federation.

"PLL LOT was unable to allow a citizen of the Russian Federation on its passenger roll in keeping with a decree by the interior minister of March 13 2020, which temporarily suspends or restricts passage through certain border crossings, including air terminals, for Russian citizens," LOT wrote in its statement.

Diatchenko, 32 and 250th in the WTA world ranking, has complained about the situation on social media. She also said she will have to pull out of the tournament she was underway to as now she was unable to get there on time.