Wimbledon allows Russian and Belarusian players back into tournament | Wimbledon

new balance

free keto book

Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon and the British grass-court tournaments this year after the All England Club (AELTC) and the LTA jointly opted to reverse their bans on players for this season’s events.

After being banned from competing at all British tour-level events in 2022, this year Russian and Belarusian players will be required to sign neutrality agreements, which prohibit them from expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, receiving funding from the Russian or Belarusian state and being sponsored by organisations funded by their governments. Players will not be required to express criticism of their governments.

In a statement the AELTC said: “Our current intention is to accept entries from Russian and Belarusian players subject to them competing as ‘neutral’ athletes and complying with appropriate conditions. These will prohibit expressions of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in various forms and prohibit entry by players receiving funding from the Russian and/or Belarusian states (including sponsorship from companies operated or controlled by the states) in relation to their participation in the Championships.”

See also  Emma Raducanu should ask Maria Sharapova how best to handle fame, says Marion Bartoli

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the question of how to treat Russian and Belarusian professional tennis players has proven one of the most divisive issues in the recent history of the sport.

While the men’s ATP Tour, the Women’s Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation have allowed the players to compete as neutral athletes around the world without being required to sign a declaration, the AELTC and LTA decided to ban Russian and Belarusian players from their events.

Their decision prompted a sharp reaction from the ATP and WTA, which punished the AELTC by withholding ranking points from last year’s event. The ATP and WTA later imposed fines on the LTA and AELTC totalling a combined $2m (£1.6m). During discussions between the governing bodies this year, the LTA feared that the threats from ATP and the WTA to suspend its events from their tours constituted an “existential threat” for British tennis if its events were not to go ahead.

See also  Nick Kyrgios posts cryptic Instagram story featuring number 74 and a padlock as he cops huge fine

In a statement the AELTC said: “The option of personal player declarations was not in our view viable last year. Since then, extensive engagement with the government and tennis stakeholder bodies has clarified and developed the form of declarations and produced workable measures for their implementation and enforcement.

“This approach has the full support of the government and the LTA, ATP, WTA and ITF. There was a strong and very disappointing reaction from some governing bodies in tennis to the position taken by the All England Club and the LTA last year with consequences which, if continued, would be damaging to the interests of players, fans, The Championships and British tennis.”

In a more forceful statement, the LTA pointed out that issues within tennis are insignificant compared to the suffering of Ukrainian people and reaffirmed its belief that last year’s decision was “the right course of action”. The LTA directly pointed to the existential threat of further sanctions as a reason for the decision.

See also  Nadal Advances to French Open Semifinals After Defeating Djokovic

The statement said: “Our decision last year to ban Russian and Belarusian players from our tournaments led to significant penalties being imposed on us by both the ATP and WTA tours including the real prospect of the termination of our membership if we were to repeat the ban in 2023.

“This would mean the cancellation of our professional tennis events at Queen’s, Eastbourne, Birmingham and Nottingham this year and indeed in the future. We have consistently opposed these sanctions and remain deeply disappointed by the penalties imposed on us.

“The effect on British tennis of the LTA being expelled from the tours would be very damaging and far reaching for the game in our country. The impact would be felt by the millions of fans that follow the sport, the grass roots of the game, including coaches and venues which rely on the events for visibility and to bring new players into the game, and of course professional British players.”

anti radiation

new balance


Source link

crypto quantum