World number one Novak Djokovic has heavily criticized the exclusion of tennis professionals from Russia and Belarus from this year’s tournament in Wimbledon. After his opening win at his home tournament in Belgrade, the Serb called the decision “crazy” on Wednesday evening. Tennis professionals or athletes in general have nothing to do with the war, said Djokovic.
“If politics interferes with sport, the result is not good,” said the six-time Wimbledon champion. In view of the wars in the Balkans, the 34-year-old recalled that he himself was a war child. Djokovic emphasized that he was the first to condemn wars, also with a view to the suffering of the civilian population.
In response to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Wimbledon organizers announced on Wednesday that professionals from Russia and Belarus would not be allowed to take part in the grass classic from June 27th to July 10th. Affected are, among others, the world number two Daniil Medvedev from Russia and his compatriot Andrei Rublev (ATP-8th), Karen Khachanov (RUS/30th) and Aslan Karazew (RUS/30th) as well as the world number four for women Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, her compatriot Victoria Asarenka (18th) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS/15th). Five men and eight women are currently missing from the top 50 at Wimbledon. The organizers admitted that it was hard for those affected to suffer from the actions of the Russian leadership.
Wimbledon is the first tennis event to take this step. There was also criticism of the two professional organizations ATP and WTA. “The WTA has repeatedly emphasized that individual athletes should not be penalized or prevented from participating because of their origin or because of decisions made by the governments of their countries,” the women’s organization said in a statement. The WTA will examine steps and possible measures against this decision. The ATP said it was unfair to discriminate against players because of their nationality and was a breach of the rule that participation in the Grand Slam tournament was solely dependent on the ATP ranking.
Russia sharply criticized the Wimbledon decision. “Once again, athletes are being held hostage by any political bias, political intrigues, hostile actions against our country. This is unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to the Interfax agency. Numerous other sports have already excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from their events in recent weeks.
Source: Nachrichten
