CNN
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4 individuals who had been attending the Australian Open had been questioned by Victoria Police after they “revealed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened safety guards,” a Tennis Australia spokesperson informed CNN on Wednesday.
“4 individuals within the crowd leaving the stadium revealed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened safety guards,” the Tennis Australia spokesperson stated. “Victoria Police intervened and are persevering with to query them.
“The consolation and security of everyone seems to be our precedence and we work carefully with safety and authorities.”
Victoria Police later informed CNN that police spoke to 4 males after a Russian flag was produced on the steps on the grounds at about 10:20 p.m. native time on Wednesday in Melbourne. All 4 males had been evicted, a police spokesperson informed CNN.
Video posted on social media from tennis journalist Tumaini Carayol exhibits an individual holding a flag with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s face on it. It’s unknown if these proven within the video had been any of the 4 that had been evicted.
Photographs shot by Getty Photographs present a person carrying a T-shirt with the letter “Z” on it whereas he was at Rod Laver Area throughout Wednesday’s males’s singles quarterfinal match between Russian Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Tennis Australia didn’t say if the person within the images is without doubt one of the 4 individuals questioned by police, and a police spokesperson informed CNN she hasn’t seen pictures of the boys concerned. It was unclear when the person was first seen carrying the shirt. In one other photograph, the identical man is seen carrying a unique shirt.
The“Z” image is considered as an indication of assist for Russia, together with its invasion of Ukraine. The image has been seen on Russian gear and clothes in Ukraine.
Tennis Australia beforehand stated that followers wouldn’t be allowed to carry the Russian or Belarusian flag to the location of the Australian Open to implement its “impartial flag” coverage.
