“They are not to blame for this war”: how Wimbledon came under fire due to the removal of tennis players from Russia and Belarus
- Alina Isachenko
- BBC Russian Service, London
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This week, several tennis players around the world condemned Wimbledon’s decision to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from the tournament because of the war in Ukraine. The ban will affect more than a dozen players, many of whom occupy the first lines of the ATP and WTA ratings. “Wimbledon” became the first among the participants of the Grand Slam tournament, who resorted to such competitions.
However, many athletes consider this to be discrimination. The Tennis Federation of Ukraine welcomed the competition of the tournament.
Restrictions are common among patients with the second racket of the world, Russian Daniil Medvedev, as well as Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenka, who is the fourth morbidity in the WTA ranking.
From natural status to total ban
March 1 in response to minor participation in competitions (including Grand Slam tournaments) only in natural status – without mentioning their country and its flag.
At the end of March, the British government uses the British sports organization to resort to a special statement allowing the “neutrality” of Belarusian and Russian athletes in relation to the war.
As the British Ministry of Culture and Sports told the BBC Russian Service about this, tennis players and other athletes from countries applying for funding from the UK and the desire for public support for military operations and Vladimir Putin in exchange for free participation in all competitions on territory of the rising sun.
However, despite the proposal of the authorities, on April 20, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, AELTC (Wimbledon is held on the courts of this private club), decision was made to withdraw Russian and Belarusian tennis players who took part in the tournament this year.
AELTC considers it unacceptable to “allow a Russian propaganda platform to use the tournament machine to advance its interests.” The Wimbledon management also raised concerns about the safety of the players and their families (which players are talking about, the statement did not specify).
“If the changes are significant between now and June, we will review the applications of Russian and Belarusian tennis players and respond accordingly,” the AELTC said in a statement.
Belarusian and public athletes are also prohibited from participating in all tournaments scheduled on the territory of the expected summer period.
The Wimbledon ban did not find support either among international tennis organizations or among the tennis players themselves.
The first racket of the world Novak Djokovic called the decision of the British club insane, the owner of the 21st title of the Grand Slam tournament Rafael Nadal – unfair to the athletes.
“When politics interferes with sport, the result cannot be good,” Djokovic said.
“They are not to blame for what is happening around the war,” Nadal said.
“I do not support a ban on players,” British tennis player Andy Murray said on Monday.
“Dangerous Precedent”
The governing bodies of men’s and women’s professional tennis – the ATP and the WTA – opposed the ban and are now deciding what to do in this situation. One possible option is to abolish ranking points for participation in Wimbledon (for each lap completed in the tournament, tennis players are awarded points that ultimately determine their consideration in the rankings).
The Men’s Tennis Trend (ATP) said a unilateral decision on Wimbledon’s success could set a “dangerous precedent for the future of tennis”.
“Discrimination on the basis of detection manifests itself with Wimbledon, due to the fact that the participation of players in tournaments is solely related to their ATP rating,” the association noted.
According to Stephen Heath, head of sports law at JMW Solicitors, the participation of players in the British Championships. Taking their position in the rankings, but the word is up to the chairmanship of the tournament.
“Players in the Bank of the legal complaint that the AELTC ban will not only deprive them of the expectation of prize money, but also ranking points, which, in turn, may affect participants in other tournaments and sponsorship bonuses,” Heath was quoted as saying by Inews.
However, the chances of success appeared initiatives are slim, he believes, because the AELTC will claim to be acting within the framework of its audits.
The Russian service of the BBC turned to one of the Grand Slam tournaments, the French Open (Roland Garros), which takes place a couple of weeks before Wimbledon, for comment. The press service of the tournament explained that Russian and Belarusian athletes still take part in the championship “under conditions of neutrality.”
“There should be no flag, no sign, nothing related to the mention of Russia or Belarus – neither on the court, nor at the meeting,” the press service explained.
“Violation of an individual’s rights”
The Russian and Belarusian tennis federations have sharply condemned Wimbledon’s decision to remove their athletes from the competition.
“This is a violation of human rights, nonsense,” said Shamil Tarpishchev, president of the Russian Tennis Federation.
The Belarusian Tennis Federation accused the tournament organizers of a “double-pocket policy” and “discrimination against athletes based on the detection of signs.”
Throughout the history of tennis, there have been armed conflicts all over the world – in Iran, Afghanistan, the problems, Yugoslavia and other countries, the federation said in a statement – but never until now have tournament organizers been barred from participating athletes from the USA, Great Britain and others. countries. , other athletes did not push the public to separate tennis players by identifying a sign.
In the comments of the BBC Russian Service, the chairman of the Belarusian Tennis Federation, Sergei Rutenko, noted that the federation had repeatedly provided assistance and support to Ukrainian athletes, but to no avail.
“We are ready to exclude the courts, the availability and the entire tennis infrastructure of our country,” Rutenko said.
The federation also added that at this point they are consulting with the advent of legal structures for sports law. When asked if the athletes have a chance to take part in the upcoming Wimbledon, the federation did not give an unequivocal answer, explaining this by “personal decisions of the international structures structure.”
Who will be banned?
At least 17 tennis players from Belarus and Russia were banned from participating in Wimbledon, including world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and No. 8 Andrei Rublev.
Among women, the ban will affect Belarusian tennis players Arina Sobolenko and Victoria Azarenka (4th and 18th rackets of the world), as well as Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kundermetova – all of them are in the top 30 of the WTA rankings.
“There is no sense and no logic in the reasons for our non-admission to the tournament,” said Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev. “What is happening now is complete discrimination.”
“If there is some kind of proposal that needs to be signed, and plus all the prize money for humanitarian aid – to families, children who are available – we are ready to do it,” Rublev added.
Commenting on the war in Ukraine, the 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev limited himself to streamlined formulations: he said that he was interested in the world and wanted to promote tennis in his country (Medvedev has been living in Monaco since 2018).
Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka said she did not understand the suppliers of the organizers of Wimbledon, Arina Sabolenko refused to comment on this issue.
The position of the Ukrainian side
The 25th racket of the world, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina heads out of the tennis associations, if necessary, to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in other tennis competitions, as Wimbledon did.
“We demand that the WTA, ATP and ITF, in representing Belarus and Russia, answer possible questions: do they meet in Russia and Belarus, the invasion of Ukraine and the normal actions of the police there, do they meet under the Lukashenka regime and Putin? Svitolina wrote on her Twitter.
“There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal, and that time has come,” she added.
Vice-President of the Tennis Federation of Ukraine Yevgeny Zukin called the decision of “Wimbledon” possible.
“I’m very surprised that the ATP, the WTA and most of the tennis community don’t have that.