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After weeks of pressure and threats, the British Wimbledon tennis tournament has finally announced that it will not ban players from Russia and Belarus for this year’s edition. Last year, a few months after the invasion of Ukraine was launched, the championship organization decided to ban players of these nationalities from participating as a sign of their rejection of Putin’s actions. However, the veto cost him a fine that this year he is not willing to repeat.
The Wimbledon tennis championship announced that this year it will allow the participation of players of Russian and Belarusian nationalities, with the only condition that they must play with neutral flags and may not represent their countries.
The tournament will be played between July 3 and 16 in London and his organization assured that it will veto the entry of any player who receives funds from the Russian or Belarusian governments, including allied companies.
“We completely condemn the invasion of Russia and wholeheartedly stand with the people of Ukraine. This has been a very difficult decision to make, one not chosen lightly or with little consideration for those who will be affected. If the As the situation changes between now and the start of the tournament, we will respond,” said Ian Hewitt, chairman of the All England Club.
Wimbledon has strongly shown its rejection of the invasion of Ukraine, which is why last year it banned Russian players, however, the ATP and WTA tournaments could not distribute points during their championships, which is why the ‘All England Club’, organizing federation of the tournament, received economic sanctions.
“We believe that the union between the Grand Slams is extremely important in today’s tennis,” the ‘All England Club’ said in a statement.
AELTC statement regarding player entries for The Championships 2023 ⬇️
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) March 31, 2023
The tension that was experienced for this year’s edition
The fine imposed last year on Wimbledon reached two million euros by the ATP and WTA, after ensuring that the veto “endangered the interest of players, fans and British tennis.”
‘All England Club’ said the fine was a “disappointing reaction” from some British government bodies and for this edition, consulted the decision with the British Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Federation.
Despite welcoming players of these nationalities, the organization has been emphatic that any show of support for the invasion of Ukraine is prohibited and will be penalized during the third Grand Slam of the season, the only one played on grass.
In recent weeks, Wimbledon had been threatened with having its pre-Grand Slam tournament license withdrawn if it did not remove the ban on Russian players.
Once the tension is over, the current world number five and best Russian racket player, Daniil Medvedev, and the current Belarusian Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka, will be able to participate in the tournament that will be held in the summer of this year.
with EFE
