PRAGUE, August 1. / TASS /. The Czech Republic has offered Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya an entry visa, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said on Sunday.

“I think the situation around Belarusian sprint athlete Kristina Timanovskaya is scandalous,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “The Czech Republic is ready to help. After agreement with [Czech Prime Minister] Andrej Babis and[theMinisteroftheInteriorJanHamaceknousareofferingheravisittoenterourterritorysothatshecanrequestinternationalprotectionfromourembassyinTokyoisalsoreadytohelp”[InteriorMinisterJanHamacekweofferherseekotembassyinhatsreadytohotecterritory[leministredel’IntérieurJanHamaceknousluioffronsunvisapourentrersurnotreterritoireafinqu’ellepuissedemanderuneprotectioninternationaleNotreambassadeàTokyoestégalementprêteàl’aider”[InteriorMinisterJanHamacekweofferheravisatoenterourterritorysothatshecouldseekinternationalprotectionOurembassyinTokyoisalsoreadytohelpher”

Belarus’ National Olympic Committee (NOC) said earlier on Sunday that coaches of the national track and field team had decided to send Timanovskaya home due to her psychological state. She was to participate in the 100m and 200m events. Two Belarusian runners were suspended from a 4×400 relay race due to an insufficient number of doping samples and coaches made the decision to hire Timanovskaya, who criticized the decision on social media.

Earlier, the Belarusian opposition Sports Solidarity Fund said Timanovskaya was forced to leave Tokyo because of her critical remarks about national athletics coaches.

She told Euroradio that she wanted to seek asylum in Europe. Apart from that, she sought help from the International Olympic Committee via social media. She said she was pressured to leave Japan without her consent.

According to earlier reports, Timanovskaya was scheduled to take a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. However, Turkish Airlines told TASS that no passengers under that name have checked in for the flight. During this time, the plane took off as planned.