Bermuda Post

Saturday, Nov 02, 2024

Wimbledon lifts ban on Russian and Belarusian players for 2023 Championships

Wimbledon lifts ban on Russian and Belarusian players for 2023 Championships

Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at Wimbledon this summer after the All England Club lifted the ban it imposed last year.
The players will be able to feature this year "subject to competing as neutral athletes" and complying with certain conditions.

They were banned in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the support provided by Belarus.

Wimbledon starts this year on 3 July at the All England Club (AELTC).

"We continue to condemn totally Russia's illegal invasion and our wholehearted support remains with the people of Ukraine," said AELTC chairman Ian Hewitt.

"This was an incredibly difficult decision, not taken lightly or without a great deal of consideration for those who will be impacted."

The decision also covers other British events held in the run up to Wimbledon, most notably the tournaments at Queen's and Eastbourne.

Conditions players must comply with include:

Agreeing not to support the Russian and/or Belarusian states or their regimes and leaders

Not receiving funding from Russian and/or Belarusian states, including sponsorship from companies operated or controlled by them

Outside Wimbledon and other British events, players have been able to compete on the game's professional tours as neutrals - including in the other Grand Slams - whereas Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) were fined for the bans imposed last year.

The AELTC said its decision for the 2023 championship was made after discussion with the UK government, the LTA and international stakeholders.

The AELTC and LTA said they stand by last year's position but that without changing their stance this year, tennis' two main professional tours, the men's ATP and women's WTA would have cancelled the LTA's membership.

As a result, Queen's, Eastbourne and other British grass-court events would not have been staged, damaging British tennis organizations financially.

Russian trio Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Daria Kasatkina - who are all in the top 10 of the men's and women's rankings - are among the high-profile names able to play this summer.

Belarusian women's world number two Aryna Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, will also now likely feature.

Players and their support staff will have to sign neutrality declarations in order to compete.

Punishments for breaking the declarations will range from fines to expulsion from the tournament.

Many sports banned Russian and Belarusian teams and athletes in response to the invasion but the ATP and WTA decided players could compete under a neutral flag.

Last month, Ukraine's highest-profile player Elina Svitolina told BBC Sport that Russian and Belarusian athletes must remain excluded from Wimbledon while "innocent Ukrainians are still being killed".

Wimbledon's decision last year was guided by the UK government and supported by 69% of the British public, according to a You Gov poll.

As well as being fined, the WTA and ATP said they would cancel the LTA's membership if it exercised further "discrimination based on nationality".

That led to the LTA fearing the tournaments traditionally staged in the lead-up to Wimbledon may be lost forever.

The LTA was fined $750,000 (£608,355) by the WTA and $1m (£811,140) by the ATP for excluding players from the tour events they operate in 2022.

"There is no doubt the affect of the LTA losing membership to the tours would have been very damaging and far reaching," LTA chief Scott Lloyd said.

A LTA statement added: "The impact would be felt by the millions of fans that follow the sport, the grassroots 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.

"Given this, and our responsibility as the national governing body of tennis in Britain, we have worked closely with the UK government, ATP, WTA and ITF, alongside the All England Club, to find a solution for 2023."

The AELTC added: "Tennis events outside of the UK have experienced a year of competition with players from Russia and Belarus competing as 'neutral' athletes.

"We also consider alignment between the Grand Slams to be increasingly important in the current tennis environment."

Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba described the U-turn by Wimbledon as "immoral" and called on the UK government to deny visas for Russian and Belarusian players.

"Has Russia ceased its aggression or atrocities? No, it's just that Wimbledon decided to accommodate two accomplices in crime," he wrote on Twitter.

UK culture secretary Lucy Frazer agreed with the AELTC's lifting of the ban for 2023 - as long as the athletes met their neutrality conditions set out by the government.

"Throughout Putin's ongoing war in Ukraine, we have been clear that Russian and Belarusian athletes representing their country should not be permitted in domestic and international sporting competitions. That position still stands," she said.

"Individual, self-funded Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete in the UK, subject to following our guidance on neutrality. We therefore support the approach of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and Lawn Tennis Association on the basis of following that guidance.

"The AELTC and LTA should never have been fined by the international tennis tours for taking a principled stand against Russian aggression."

In a joint statement the ATP and WTA did not respond to the criticism but said they were "pleased all players will have an opportunity to compete".

"It has taken a collaborative effort across the sport to arrive at a workable solution which protects the fairness of the game," the tours said.

"This remains an extremely difficult situation and we would like to thank Wimbledon and the LTA for their efforts in reaching this outcome, while reiterating our unequivocal condemnation of Russia's war on Ukraine."

The ATP and WTA stripped Wimbledon of its ranking points last year - which saw Kazakhstan's women's champion Elena Rybakina severely impacted, along with other players who performed well - but they will now return because of the decision.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
'I just lost it' Lowe’s worker fired after 13 years of employment for confronting thieves trying to steal $2K of merchandise
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
×