Banning prestigious Russian, Belarusian and Wimbledon players from now on to friendly tournaments

In an interview with the media on May 15, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev still expressed his desire to appear at Wimbledon – Photo: AFP

According to Reuters and AFP news agency, the decision of the Tennis Professional Association (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) will turn Wimbledon into a high-profile friendly tournament.

The move takes place right before the start of the third Grand Slam tournament in 2022 (expected to start from June 27 to July 10).

“We deeply regret but have no choice but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon 2022,” ATP stated in a statement late on May 20 (Vietnam time).

According to this tennis rating organization, the fact that the Wimbledon organizers, AELTC, banned Russian and Belarusian players on the grounds that Moscow sent troops into Ukraine is discriminatory and violates basic principles of ATP.

Wimbledon’s ban has ruled out a host of top players, including world number two Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka as well as two-time champion Victoria Azarenka .

“Our rules exist to protect the full rights of players. Such unilateral decisions, if left unresolved, will set a harmful precedent for other tournaments,” ATP said. state an argument.

Meanwhile, WTA CEO Steve Simon stressed that his organization has a rule that “athletes participating in an individual achievement sport should not be punished simply because of their nationality or other achievements.” decision of their government”.

In a statement not long after, the AELTC organizer said it was working with the organizers of other Grand Slam tournaments.

“We will not accept victories or participation in Wimbledon being used as material for the Russian propaganda machine,” AELTC continued to defend the decision to ban the Russian and Belarusian players.

The UK’s culture, media and sport minister, Nadine Dorries, said she supported the AELTC’s decision and would stand with it to “defend what is right”.

“We deeply regret today’s decision and call on the ATP to review its position on ranking points at Wimbledon,” the British minister said.

However, in tennis circles, Wimbledon’s ban has been widely criticized, especially since Russian and Belarusian players are still allowed to compete in other tournaments, including the second Grand Slam, the French Open. wide starting May 22.

“It’s not fair to my Russian colleagues. The war is happening through no fault of their own,” said Spaniard Rafael Nadal, a two-time Wimbledon champion and 21-time Grand Slam champion. exclamation when Wimbledon announced the ban at the end of April.

This is the first time Wimbledon has disqualified players because of their nationality since the Second World War.