The world’s number one in men’s tennis arises: “When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.”
World number one in men’s tennis Novak Djokovic called it “crazy” to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at Wimbledon this summer. “I will always condemn the war, I will never support the war being myself a child of the war – said Djokovic – having grown up during the civil wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia. Tennis players, athletes have nothing to do with war. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good ».
The decision of the All England Club dates back to yesterday: Russian and Belarusian tennis players will not play the 2022 Wimbledon tournament, which will start on June 27.
The Championships are the first tennis tournament to close the doors to Russians and Belarusians. Among men, there are five top 100 not admitted: in addition to number two in the ranking Daniil Medvedev, number 8 Andrej Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Aslan Karatsev and the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka. In the women’s field, on the other hand, there are 11, including last season’s semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka (4th in the ranking), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Victoria Azarenka, Daria Kasaktina.
The All England Club press release
“On behalf of the All England Club and the Championships Management Committee, we wish to express our continued support to all those affected by the conflict in Ukraine during these shocking and distressing times,” it reads. We share the universal condemnation of Russia’s illegal actions and have carefully considered the situation in the context of our duties to the players, our community and the wider UK public as a British sporting institution. We have also taken into consideration guidelines set by the UK government specifically in relation to sporting bodies and events. Given the profile in the UK 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 by the strongest means possible. In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to take advantage of the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players in the tournament. It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to refuse the registrations of Russian and Belarusian players for the 2022 tournament ».
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