Belgrade (AFP)
Russian Andrey Rublev, ranked eighth in the world, described the decision of the Wimbledon Championships, the third Grand Slam in tennis, to deprive the Russian and Belarusian players from participating this season with full discrimination, suggesting that the organizers donate the financial prizes to the victims of the conflict.
Rublev said on the sidelines of his participation in the Belgrade tournament, “The reasons they gave us are meaningless, they were not logical, and what is happening now is complete discrimination against us.”
On Wednesday, Wimbledon imposed a ban on the participation of Russian and Belarus players in its next edition in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which means the absence of many ranked players, most notably the two Russians, Daniel Medvedev, the second in the world, and champion Flug Meadows, Rublev and Belarusian Arina Sabalenka, the fourth in the women’s semi-finals last year. .
“Banning the Russian and Belarusian players will not change anything,” Rublev added, adding that “with all the financial prizes for humanitarian aid, for families who are suffering, for children who are suffering, I think this would do something, even a little.” Noting that the total prize money in Wimbledon is worth 35 million pounds ($45.6 million).
“Tennis, in this case, will be the first and only sport to donate that amount of money and Wimbledon will do so, so you’ll get all the credit.”
The Serbian, world number one, Novak Djokovic, also described the decision as “crazy”.
In Belgrade, he said, “I will always denounce war, I will never support war, especially since I am a child of war. I know very well how much emotional trauma it leaves.”
“In Serbia, we all know what happened in 1999, in the Balkans, we have seen many wars in modern history, however, I can’t support Wimbledon’s decision, I think it’s crazy.”
The crowned with twenty major titles added, “The players, tennis players and athletes have nothing to do with the ‘war’. When politics interferes in sports, the result is not good.”
The Professional Players Association “ATP” considered the decision “unfair”, while the Women’s Association “WTA” considered it a form of discrimination, expressing “great disappointment.”
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