The Wimbledon tennis tournament will ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in response to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. According to Sportico, players of these nationalities will not be allowed to enter the tournament, regardless of their personal feelings about the situation in Ukraine.
As was previously reported, British Minister for Sport Nigel Huddleston suggested that Russians would have to prove their ideological conformity to the current narrative surrounding the military conflict to be able to take part in tournaments.
“We need some potential assurance that they are not supporters of Putin, and we are considering what requirements we may need to try and get some assurances along those lines,” said Huddleston.
However, it’s not an option anymore, as now, the ban is imposed on all Russian and Belarusian players, regardless of their ideological views. The decision supersedes an earlier directive by tennis authorities the ITF, WTA, and ATP which said that Russian and Belarusian players could continue to appear at tour events, but only as neutrals.
This prevents the world number two, Daniil Medvedev, last year’s US Open winner, from competing at Wimbledon, which starts on June 27th. Fellow Russian top 30 men’s players Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and Aslan Karatsev will also miss out, as will former women’s world number one Victoria Azarenka and current number four Aryna Sabalenka.
The ban contradicts the statements of WTA chief Steve Simon, who last month asserted that individual athletes shouldn’t be punished for the actions of their governments.
“You never know what the future may bring. But I can tell you that we have never banned athletes from participating on our tour as the result of political positions their leadership may take,” Simon assured.
Ru-Main, 20.04.2022
Source: InfoWars
