Image of Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning his match at the Mexican Open in February. The second-ranked male tennis player is among those banned from Wimbledon due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Image of Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning his match at the Mexican Open in February. The second-ranked male tennis player is among those banned from Wimbledon due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Image of Hector Vivis / Getty
Tennis officials have banned Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s Wimbledon, citing “unwarranted and unprecedented military aggression” in Ukraine.
All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and Championships Administration announced on Wednesday that they have made their decisions based on government guidance regarding sporting events and after weighing their obligations to the players, their communities and the wider public. Great Britain.
They wrote.
Wimbledon, one of four tennis Grand Slam events, will take place in London from June 27 to July 10. The organizers said in their statement that “if circumstances change materially” before that, they will consider and respond accordingly.
The move is not entirely a surprise: Sports industry website Sportico first report news on Tuesday, with UK stores including guardian and BBC says that an announcement is imminent.
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) – the governing body for tennis in the UK – also announced on wednesday that it is joining the AELTC in banning Russian and Belarusian players from its events, so that British tennis can provide “a consistent approach across all events throughout the summer.
The ban makes Wimbledon one of the first tennis events to suspend players from the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and excludes a number of high-ranking players from the competition.
Those include world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev of Russia and world No. 4 of women Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. There are four Russian men in the top 30 – including two in the top 10 – and two Belarusian women in the top 20, the Guardian noted.
Russia and Belarus have faced some consequences in the world of tennis
Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been allowed to continue to participate in ATP and WTA tours (just not compete under their country’s name or flag) and register to compete at the Open Solution. wide, beginning May 22.
However, they have been shunned by the tennis world in a number of other ways.
Russia was banned from defending its title at two team events: the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup last week (where the US narrowly defeated Ukraine in qualifying after drawing.) The WTA and ATP have suspended a combined event that would take place in Moscow this fall, and the International Tennis Federation has also canceled its events in Russia.
Proponents of the ban say it sends a strong message
The AELTC has consulted with the UK government on whether to let Russian and Belarusian athletes compete at Wimbledon, the world’s oldest tennis tournament and considered by many to be the most prestigious. are not.
UK Sports Secretary Nigel Huddleston said last month that “nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or allowed” to play in it.
“But I think it needs to go beyond that, I think we need to have some assurance that they are not supporters of Vladimir Putin and we are looking at what requests we can needed to get reassurance along those lines,” he added. “In short, do I feel comfortable when I see a Russian athlete flying the Russian flag?”
Several former and current Ukrainian players have also called for such a ban. Olga Savchuk, captain of the Ukraine Billie Jean King Cup team, says New York Times that “it can’t just be a punitive measure against 90% of the Russian people and 10% not.”
“It has to be even and I think it’s collective sin,” she added.
Some critics say athletes don’t pay the price for their government’s actions
However, not everyone is convinced. Steve Simon, head of the WTA, told BBC last month that he believes players should not be penalized for “arbitrary management decisions.”
He added that the WTA had never previously banned athletes from participating in its tour because of their country’s politics, and that would take something very important to change.
“I hope that we continue with sanctions, we continue to do everything we can to achieve peace, but again these people are innocent victims of that and isolated. as a result of these decisions. I don’t think that’s fair.” “
The LTA acknowledged in Wednesday’s announcement that individual athletes may not support their government’s actions, but said it believed it was important to do everything possible to support Ukraine. and the ban won the support of the British public.
The officials wrote: “After careful consideration, the LTA believes that tennis must be involved in many other areas of sport and public life in order to send a clear signal to the nations of Russia and Belarus that action should be taken. their work in Ukraine is the subject of international condemnation.”
They added: “The continued participation of citizens of Russia and Belarus at events risks fueling these regimes as there is an unprecedented international effort to isolate them and punish their actions.” .”
Some Russian athletes have spoken out against the war
Some Russian players have notably opposed the fight on the world stage.
The day after the first Russian invasion, Andrey Rublev wrote “please no war” on one of the side cameras. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia’s top female player, spoke out about the war in a tweet since deleted in which she wrote that “personal ambition or political motives cannot justify violence.”
Medvedev has also called for peace. He said last month that he hopes to continue playing on the world stage.
“It’s difficult to talk about this topic because I want to play tennis – play in different countries,” he said, according to Eurosport. “I want to promote my sport, for sure I want to promote what I’m doing in my country, and the current situation is that it’s the only way I can play.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Morning version live blogs.
