“In the circumstances of an unprecedented and unjustified military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive the slightest benefit from the participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players.”explained the All England Lawn Tennis Club in a statement released this Wednesday.
“We therefore intend, with deep regret, to refuse the entry of Russian and Belarusian players at Wimbledon.”added the organizer of the test, who specified that he could rule out this radical measure if the “circumstances change radically between now and June”.
“We admit that this decision is hard on the affected people individually and they are the ones who will sadly suffer the acts of the leaders of the Russian regime”justified the president of the All England Club, Ian Hewitt.
“Once again, they make athletes hostage to political prejudice, political intrigue (…) It is unacceptable”criticized the spokesman for the Kremlin Dimitri Peskov before the move was officially announced.
Following the recommendations of International Olympic Committee (IOC)Russian and Belarusian athletes have been excluded from numerous international competitions in athletics, figure skating, as well as from Paralympic Games from Beijing and the soccer and swimming world championships.
In tennis, the tournaments in Russia Y Belarus were cancelled, while these two countries were expelled from the team competitions (Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cupboth won by Russia last year).
But individually and under a neutral flag, the tennis players of these two countries were authorized to continue competing in the tournaments ATP Y WTA.
However, the four tournaments of the Grand Slam (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open)are independent of the male and female circuits.
The ATP reacted immediately and through a statement described the decision as “unfair”which also extends to other tournaments such as Queen’s either Eastbourne which are sponsored by the ATP.
“Discrimination based on nationality is also a violation of our agreements with Wimbledon under which a player’s participation is based solely on his ranking.”denounced the entity, specifying that it will analyze the situation before making decisions.
At the moment, neither French Tennis Federation (FFT)which organizes Roland Garros (May 22 to June 5) nor the American (USTA), responsible for the US Open (from August 29 to September 11) have planned to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players.
Some sources had told the Times that after two months of talks, the organizers of Wimbledon they have preferred to ban the participation of Russian and Belarusian players rather than adhere to a compromise solution proposed by the British government.
These negotiations sought for these players to sign a declaration according to which they would not make favorable comments to the Russian president. Vladimir Putin.
But the organizers of Wimbledon They estimate that the signing of such declarations could have a negative impact on the families of the players.
The Russian and Belarusian players have been discreet in their condemnation of the conflict, although rublev launched a “no to war please” into a television camera during a competition in dubaishortly after the start of the invasion.
“I want peace in the whole world”was content to say Medvedevwho is currently recovering from a hernia operation and is in doubt for Roland Garros.
Azarenkaformer world number one and two-time winner of the Australian Openwas more frank. “It is heartbreaking to see how innocent people have been and continue to be affected by this violence.”declared the 32-year-old tennis player in March.
“I have always seen Ukrainians and Belarusians as friendly and supportive people towards each other. It is difficult to witness the violent separation that takes place today”added the current 18th of the WTA.
These statements were described as insufficient by several Ukrainian players, including Elina Svitolin (ex-N.5), which reiterated its request to the ATP and the WTA to exclude tennis players from these two countries if they do not correctly answer three questions specified in a statement: Do you support the invasion (…)? Do you support military activities (…)? Do you support the Putin and Lukashenko regimes?
“Based on the answers, we demand the exclusion and suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international competitions, as Wimbledon has done”adds the text published this Wednesday on social networks.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA)which oversees the major preparation tournaments for WimbledonWhat Queen’s either Eastbournedecided to follow the example of Wimbledon and it will prohibit the participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players in the tests it organizes.
In its statement, the ATP reiterated its condemnation of the “invasion of Ukraine and we are in solidarity with the millions of innocent people affected by the war”but maintained that “Russian and Belarusian players will be able to continue to compete in ATP tournaments under a neutral flag.”
Source: Ambito
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