June 20, 2022 19:28 PM
Georgian player Zaramidze was photographed holding the flag of his home country Russia
[Sina Sports News on the 20th]In 2022, Wimbledon will impose unilateral bans on Russian and Belarusian players, including a large number of outstanding athletes such as Medvedev and Sabalenka. However, the Russian women’s doubles player Zaramidze was able to play as the 14th seed in the tournament because she changed her nationality last week and decided to play as a Georgian player.
Zaramidze, 29, who is currently ranked 43rd in women’s doubles, was born in Moscow and has played as a Russian player since turning professional. Last week, Zaramidze signed up for the Wimbledon tournament as a Georgia player. She played with Krunic in the women’s doubles match and is still the No. 14 seed in the tournament according to the world rankings.
In this regard, a spokesman for the All England Club said that Zaramidze’s participation has nothing to do with the change of nationality. The verification process is carried out through the WTA and ITF, and Zaramidze only needs to show a valid Georgian passport. Therefore, the All England Club is actually powerless to prevent the “Georgian player” Zaramidze from participating. “A player’s nationality is defined as the ‘flag’ flag they use in professional events, an agreed process administered by the WTA and the ITF.”
The British media dug into Zaramidze’s identity background and came to the conclusion that it is not clear how closely she is related to Georgia, but her first and last names are of Georgian origin. In December last year, her pre-season training was in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. At last month’s French Open, Zalamidze played as a neutral athlete.