FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, October 27, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls
February 26, 2022
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has cancelled visas for the Belarusian men’s basketball team over their nation’s support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, British interior minister Priti Patel said on Saturday.
“The UK will not welcome the national sports teams of those countries who are complicit in (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Home Secretary Patel said on Twitter.
She said the Belarusian team had been due to play in Newcastle in northern England on Sunday.
On Friday, Britain summoned the Belarusian ambassador, Maxim Yermalovich, to protest at Belarus giving assistance to Russia with its invasion.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Christina Fincher)
