Wimbledon Will Ban Russian and Belarusian Players This Summer
The last time Wimbledon barred athletes from specific countries was World War II, when German and Japanese players were not allowed to participate. Now, the world's oldest tennis tournament announced that players from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to compete in the 2022 tournament.
"Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible," Wimbledon said in a statement in April.
"In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships. It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022."
The tournament said if "circumstances change materially between now and June," they will reconsider their decision.
The Telegraph reported the decision behind the ban came in part over the possible optics of a member of the British royal family, Kate Middleton, having to present a trophy to a Russian player.
Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the organization that hosts Wimbledon. Last year, she attended both the men's and women's championship matches, and is a regular attendee of the tournament.
Currently, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been competing on the men's and women's circuit as individuals, without any national identification. The decision impacts a number of highly-ranked players, including men's world no. 2, Daniil Medvedev, and women's world no. 4, Aryna Sabalenka, who made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon last year.
Both the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the men's tour, and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), the women's tour, have spoken out against the decision.
"We believe that today's unilateral decision by Wimbledon and the LTA to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year's British grass-court swing is unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game," the ATP said. "Discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP Rankings. Any course of action in response to this decision will now be assessed in consultation with our Board and Member councils."
While not directly responding to the Wimbledon ban, last month, Steve Simon, the head of the WTA, said in an interview with the BBC, "I feel very strongly that again these individual athletes should not be the ones that are being penalized by the decisions of an authoritarian leadership that is obviously doing terrible, reprehensible things."
He continued, "But if that happens, which is again part of the overall strategy of making Russia and Russian citizens pay the consequence for the decision their government has made, then it won’t be something that we support."
The decision makes Wimbledon the first Grand Slam tournament to ban individual athletes.
A month after the ban was announced, both men's and women's international tennis tours announced they would be stripping Wimbledon of ranking points—rendering the tournament technically an exhibition.
"The atrocities happening to millions of innocent people in Ukraine because of Russia’s unprovoked invasion are horrific and appalling,” the WTA said in a statement. "The WTA strongly condemns Russia’s ongoing attack. First and foremost, we want nothing more than for peace and the war in Ukraine to end. Nearly 50 years ago, the WTA was founded on the fundamental principle that all players have an equal opportunity to compete based on merit and without discrimination. The WTA believes that individual athletes participating in an individual sport should not be penalized or prevented from competing solely because of their nationalities or the decisions made by the governments of their countries."
The ATP wrote in their statement, "The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our tour. The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the U.K. this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system."
Though they won't win any points for their rankings, the world's top tennis players—though not those from Russia are Belarus—are expected to compete this summer.
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