Olympics-Russian tennis player Rublev turns down Paris invite, Medvedev accepts

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 31, 2024 Russia's Andrey Rublev in action during his third round match against Italy's Matteo Arnaldi REUTERS/Yves Herman

(Reuters) - Tokyo doubles gold medallist Andrey Rublev and fellow tennis players Darya Kasatkina and Anna Kalinskaya are among 12 Russians and Belarusians who have turned down invitations to compete as neutral athletes at the Paris Olympics.

FILE PHOTO: Mar 10, 2024; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Jasmine Paolini (ITA) reacts after winning a point in her third round match against Anna Kalinskaya during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) published an updated list of neutral athletes on Monday with 2021 U.S. Open tennis champion Daniil Medvedev and women's world number 22 Ekaterina Aleksandrova among the 31 who had accepted.

FILE PHOTO: Jul 1, 2024; London, United Kingdom, Daniil Medvedev waves to the crowd after his match against Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) (not pictured) in a gentlemen's singles match on day 1 in The Championships Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow's closest ally in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, are barred from the Paris Games except for the few who will compete as neutral athletes without flags or anthems.

The athletes have been carefully vetted by an IOC panel to ensure they have no connection to the military.

Russia has denounced the restrictions as discriminatory. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said the IOC was slipping "into racism and neo-Nazism".

World number six Rublev, women's world number 12 Kasatkina and number 18 Kalinskaya declined along with Tokyo singles silver medallist Karen Khachanov and Liudmila Samsonova, who had already turned down the opportunity to play.

U.S.-based Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who won a doubles gold and singles bronze in London in 2012, has accepted an invitation but Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has not yet accepted or declined.

The Belarusian world number three pulled out of Wimbledon because of a shoulder injury on Monday and Russian Tennis Federation chief Shamil Tarpishchev said last month that Rublev would be skipping the Games for health reasons.

Gymnast Ivan Litvinovich, who won gold for Belarus in the trampoline in Tokyo three years ago, and Russian canoeist Alexey Korovashkov, a bronze medallist in London, were also among the athletes who have accepted the IOC's invitations.

FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Tennis - Women's Singles - Round 2 - Ariake Tennis Park - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021. Ekaterina Aleksandrova of the Russian Olympic Committee in action during her second-round match against Nadia Podoroska of Argentina REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw

The Paris Olympics take place from July 26-Aug. 11 with the tennis tournament running from July 27-Aug. 4 at Roland Garros, the home of the French Open.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, editing by)