This week, several leading tennis players in the world immediately condemned the decision of the Wimbledon leadership to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in 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 was the first and so far the only Grand Slam tournament to use such restrictions.

The management of one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world calls its decision a desire to “limit the global influence of Russia”, but many athletes consider this discrimination. The Tennis Federation of Ukraine welcomed the decision of the tournament.

The restrictions, among other things, will affect the second racket of the world, Russian Daniil Medvedev, as well as Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenka, who occupies the fourth position in the WTA ranking.

On March 1, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Tennis Associations issued a joint statement expressing concern over what was happening and saying that now Russian and Belarusian athletes will only be able to take part in competitions (including Grand Slam tournaments) in a neutral status – without mentioning their country and its flag.

At the end of March, the British government recommended that British sports organizations resort to a special statement confirming the “neutrality” of Belarusian and Russian athletes in relation to the war.

As the British Department of Culture and Sports told the BBC Russian Service, tennis players and other athletes from these countries were asked to confirm the lack of funding from the Russian leadership and to refuse public support for military operations and Vladimir Putin in exchange for free participation in all competitions in the territory. United Kingdom.

However, despite the proposals 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), decided to completely exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players from participating in the tournament this year.

AELTC considers it unacceptable “to allow the Russian propaganda machine to use the tournament site to promote its interests.” The Wimbledon management also expressed concerns about the safety of the players and their families (which players are in question, the statement did not specify).

“If circumstances change materially between now and June, we will review applications from Russian and Belarusian tennis players and respond accordingly,” the AELTC said in a statement.

Belarusian and Russian athletes have also been banned from participating in all tournaments scheduled in the United Kingdom for the summer.

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, and the owner of the 21st title of the Grand Slam tournaments, Rafael Nadal, called it 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 don’t support a ban on players,” British tennis player Andy Murray said on Monday. “I have spoken to some Russian and Ukrainian players. I feel very sorry for the athletes who are not allowed to play and I understand why it seems unfair to them.”

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 of the possible options is to cancel the ranking points for participating in Wimbledon (for each lap completed in the tournament, tennis players are awarded points that ultimately determine their position in the rankings).

The Men’s Tennis Association (ATP) said Wimbledon’s unilateral decision could set a “dangerous precedent for the future of tennis”.

“Ethnic discrimination violates our agreement with Wimbledon, according to which the participation of players in the tournament is based solely on their ATP rating,” the association said.

According to Stephen Taylor Heath, head of sports law at JMW Solicitors, players’ participation in the British championship is determined by their position in the rankings, but the tournament management has the final say.

“Players may try to argue that an AELTC ban will not only deprive them of potential prize money, but also ranking points, which, in turn, may affect participation in other tournaments and sponsorship bonuses,” Heath was quoted as saying by Inews.

However, the chances of such an initiative being successful are slim, he said, as the AELTC will claim to be acting within its mandate.

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 can 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 on the competition site,” the press service explained.

The Russian and Belarusian tennis federations have sharply condemned the decision of the Wimbledon leadership to remove their athletes from the competition.

“This is a violation of human rights, nonsense,” said the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev.

The Belarusian Tennis Federation accused the organizers of the tournament of a “policy of double standards” and “discrimination against athletes on the basis of nationality.”

“Throughout the history of tennis, armed conflicts have occurred in the world – in Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Yugoslavia and other countries,” the federation said in a statement, “but never until now have tournament organizers excluded athletes from the United States, Great Britain and other countries from participating. , and other athletes did not push the public to separate tennis players on a national basis.”

In a commentary to the BBC Russian Service, the chairman of the Belarusian Tennis Federation, Sergei Rutenko, noted that the federation had repeatedly offered assistance and support to athletes from Ukraine, but to no avail.

“We are ready to provide courts, accommodation and the entire tennis infrastructure of our country,” Rutenko said. “Since it was not possible to communicate with Ukrainian representatives, we tried to build communication through international structures, but there was no response.”

The federation also added that they are currently consulting with international law firms on 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 international sports structures.”

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 statement that we need to sign, and plus give all the prize money for humanitarian aid – to families, children who are suffering – we are ready to do it,” Rublev added.

Commenting on the war in Ukraine, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev limited himself to vague language: he said he was for peace 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 arguments of the organizers of Wimbledon, Arina Sabolenko refused to comment on this issue.

The 25th racket of the world, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, demanded that tennis associations, if necessary, remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in other tennis competitions, as Wimbledon did.

“We demand from the WTA, ATP and ITF to make sure that the players representing Belarus and Russia answer the following questions: do they support the Russian and Belarusian invasion of Ukraine and the hostilities taking place there, do they support the regime of Lukashenka 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 the leadership of Wimbledon the right one.

“I am very surprised that the ATP, WTA and most of the tennis community do not understand this. If the ATP and WTA share the values of the free world, independence and sovereignty, they need to do something,” Zukin said.