Translated material
The team broke away from the coach
Shamil Tarpishchev cannot fly to the USA
The captain of the Russian tennis team, Shamil Tarpishchev, cannot fly to the USA, where the semi-final match of the Fed Cup with the participation of the US and Russian national teams will take place on June 14-15. The reason was that the American embassy in Moscow refused to issue Tarpishchev a visa in a timely manner.According to Vremya Novostey, Tarpishchev had an interview at the American embassy in the Russian capital on June 14 and planned to immediately go to the United States from Guatemala, where, as a member of the IOC, he participated in the 119th session of the International Olympic Committee. But neither then nor a few days later Tarpishchev was given a visa. “It was possible to get to the USA by plane from Guatemala in two hours, but I had to return to Moscow and now, with a fortunate combination of circumstances, fly back. Needless to say, this is a very tedious path. Moreover, the athletes will be forced to train on their own all this time,” said Shamil Tarpishchev.
The US Embassy confirmed the receipt of Tarpishchev's application for a non-immigrant visa, but did not give any comments about the details of this application. It is currently under consideration in Washington, the embassy said. “We know that Tarpishchev needs to go to the United States in the coming days,” RIA Novosti quotes an employee of the US Embassy in Moscow as saying. The same version was repeated yesterday by US State Department official Sean McCormack, answering a question about Tarpishchev at a briefing. “According to my information, he submitted documents that are now being considered,” the diplomat said.
Yesterday, the president of the All-Russian Tennis Federation spent several hours at the US Embassy in Moscow, waiting for a response from Washington. But the representatives of the embassy, who finished their work issuing visas at 18.00, were unable to answer anything definite. The upset Tarpishchev, who waited another hour after closing, called everything that was happening “clownery” and said that he would call the United States and try to somehow resolve this issue himself. “I foresaw that I might encounter such problems. And I specifically sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in advance to avoid this. Similar incidents have been happening to me since 1996, when my name began to be associated with the name of Mr. Berezovsky. First, I was banned from leaving Atlanta during the Summer Olympics, then I waited a week for a US visa before the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 and because of this I missed the session of the International Olympic Committee, in which I was obliged to participate as a member of the IOC.” ,” explained the president of the All-Russian Tennis Federation. At the same time, he emphasizes, although a similar story precedes each of his trips to the United States, no complaints have yet been made against him.
Such hassle can play a negative role on the eve of the most important start of the women's tennis team. The American side has fielded the strongest squad for the upcoming match: the Williams sisters - Serena and Venus, Lisa Raymond, who ranks second in the WTA doubles player rankings, and young Vanya King - the 31st doubles racket in the world.
For the Russians, on the contrary, changes in the team occurred at the very last moment. Elena Vesnina and Alla Kudryavtseva replaced the injured Svetlana Kuznetsova, the fourth racket of the world, and Maria Sharapova, the second in the WTA rankings. Sharapova refused to play, citing shoulder problems. Kuznetsova is undergoing examination in one of the clinics in Spain for the same reason. Vesnina and Kudryavtseva were accompanied by Anna Chakvetadze and Nadezhda Petrova. According to the captain of the Russian team, Shamil Tarpishchev, Kuznetsova’s non-participation is a big loss for the team. As for Sharapova, sooner or later she must play for the national team; this, according to Tarpishchev, is in the interests of the tennis player herself.
But now we are not even talking about that. “If they give me a visa, then I will be able to fly to the USA no earlier than Wednesday, which means that half of the training will take place without my participation. Of course, I will not leave the team, and if there is permission, I will fly to the USA. But you understand what state I am in and what state the athletes are in. Moreover, half of our quartet can be called beginners,” said Tarpishchev. Regarding the incident, the head of the All-Russian Tennis Federation intends to send an official letter to the International Tennis Federation in order to avoid such misunderstandings in the future.