Banning Russian and Belarusian tennis players from this year’s Wimbledon tournament due to the war in Ukraine is not discriminatory, say organizers of the Grand Slam tournament.
Tournament president Ian Hewitt said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had put organizers in “an extreme and exceptional situation”, adding that the decision to implement a ban on players was taken in line with UK government guidelines. .
Those guidelines meant that players from Russia and Belarus would not be able to play in the tournament, which starts on June 27, based solely on their ranking position, but would have to agree to a written declaration against the war in Ukraine.
“First, even if we accept applications from Russian and Belarusian players with written statements, we would risk their success or participation in Wimbledon being used to benefit the Russian regime’s propaganda machine, which we could not accept,” Hewitt told reporters on Tuesday. thursday (26th).
“Second, we have a duty to ensure that no action we take jeopardizes the safety of players or their families.
“We deeply understand and regret the impact this decision will have on every individual affected — and so many innocent people are suffering as a result of this terrible war.”
‘Right and responsible decision’
The decision was met with criticism from the game’s governing bodies, including the ATP and WTA Tours, and some players, including defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic and Russian world number 8 Andrey Rublev, who called the move “illogical” and “complete discrimination”.
“It’s not discrimination in the way it’s being said,” Hewitt said. “It is a considered view of what is the right and responsible decision in all circumstances.”
He added: “We know they [Rússia] have a history of using sport to further their cause and this is a serious matter for us that we cannot accept that Wimbledon is a part of.”
The Kremlin had previously said that banning Russian players from Wimbledon as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “unacceptable”.
“Making athletes victims of some kind of political prejudice, intrigue, hostile actions towards our country is unacceptable. We can only mourn here,” Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call with reporters earlier this month.
While individual players from Russia and Belarus can compete in the ATP and WTA Tours as neutrals, this is the first time they are banned from competing in an elite tennis event.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) decision covers all of this year’s British grass swing tournaments as well as the Grand Slam.
Rublev, who wrote “No war please” on a TV camera during a game days after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, is set to miss this year’s Wimbledon alongside compatriot and world number 2 Daniil Medvedev and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, currently ranked fourth in the world and last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist, and former world number 1 Victoria Azarenka.
“We are in ongoing dialogue with the players, the ITF and our Grand Slam teammates, and will continue to work with them in the coming weeks,” Sally Bolton, Wimbledon chief executive, told reporters.
Bolton added that some affected players were consulted ahead of a decision on the ban, but declined to give specific details about those conversations.
She also stressed that the current ban relates to “players only”, but said the tournament will refuse accreditation requests from Russian media.
Talks between Wimbledon and the UK government are ongoing over whether Russian and Belarusian support staff and coaches will be allowed into the tournament.
Last week, WTA CEO Steve Simon told The Tennis Podcast that the ban on Russian and Belarusian players was “extremely disappointing”.
“The one thing we were always united in [no tênis] is that entry to our events has always been based on merit and without discrimination,” he said.
In a statement last week, the ATP Tour also said that the decision to exclude a player based on his nationality was “a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon, which states that entry of players is based on ATP Rankings only”.
Wimbledon organizers also announced on Tuesday that players would not need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to compete in this year’s tournament, which is currently expected to take place under normal circumstances with no virus countermeasures in place.
Source: CNN Brasil
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