Controversy erupts after spectator asked to remove Ukraine flag at Cincinnati Open by officials - WATCH

During the ongoing Cincinnati Open, a huge controversy erupted recently. A fan draped herself in a Ukrainian flag and was asked to remove it after objection from a Russian athlete.The incident occurredduring a qualifying match between Russian players Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova.

Thus, when a spectator was spotted with a Ukraine flag, the officials asked her to remove following a complaint from a Russian player. The incident grabbed a lot of eyeballs and the video of the chair umpire's interaction with the fan has also gone viral on social media platforms. Here's the video:

Following her interaction with chair umpire, the fan left the court and wasreportedly approached by the head of security too, informingher the flag was above the allowed size.

Issuing a clarification on the whole matter, a spokesperson for the tournament said in a statement, “Per the Western & Southern Open’s bag policy, as stated on the tournament’s website, flags or banners larger than 18 x 18 are prohibited. Therefore, the patron was asked to remove the flag from the grounds and after doing so was allowed to remain at the tournament."

“Any inquiries about the chair umpire should be directed to the WTA Tour,” it further added. So far, there has been no reaction from the WTA on the incident. However, many fans have lashed out at the officials for asking the spectator to remove her country's flag.

Russia and Ukraine have been involved in a war following Vladamir Putin's decisionof invadingthe European country. To date, there has been no resolution to the conflict.