Wimbledon Bans Russian, Belarusian Players

[jimlosaltos]

This morning the AELTC banned players from Russia and its ally Belarus from playing in this year's Wimbledon championships.

The ATP is protesting.

Wimbledon announcement is here:

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2022-04-20/statement_regarding_russian_and_belarusian_individuals_at_the_championships_2022.html

"It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022.

"Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club, commented: “We recognise that this is hard on the individuals affected, and it is with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime.

ATP statements:

"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."

Also from the ATP: "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..."

[stotty]

I tend to agree with Wimbledon on this one, although I also agree it is immensely tough on the players banned. It is hardly their fault their leader is a despicable, murdering maniac. But this war is such an ACT of barbarity, the West, and the wider world, needs to fight back with every means possible, short of starting WW3.

[luv_all]

Clown world now has tennis firmly in its grasp. Can’t escape it anywhere.

[glacierguy]

This sort of action should be taken at government level, not individual event level. I think AELTC are wrong on this one.

[jimlosaltos]

This sort of action should be taken at government level, not individual event level. I think AELTC are wrong on this one.

I agree that foreign policy should be set by the government not by a country club, glorified as this one is.

I suspect Boris put pressure on ALTEC. He needs a visible sign of standing up to Putin after letting oligarchs flee with dollars (incl Roman Abramovic (sp?) ) flying on banned Aeroflot to Israel and on to Moscow. So, go after tennis players.

But the distinction between national teams and individuals is a tough one here. IMHO it falls into Putin's trap of making this about the evil west vs the Russians.

I thought the ATP / WTA stand of removing the national association was a good, appropriate move. Still, I can understand why others feel it is not enough.

[stotty]

Yes the decision is best taken by the government. No question there as it absolves any governing body from blame over the decision, which is handy.

It's true that tennis players are not blame for a murdering maniac with delusions of Soviet grandeur. But then neither are 10 million displaced Ukrainians, many of who have had their homes blown to smithereens, and all those innocent civilians who have been murdered and tortured. Stands to reason that all the totally innocent Russian civilians should be at least made to feel something isn't quite right, and that this be achieved by all reasonable means possible. We need to burst through the propaganda somehow.

We are centimetres away from WW3 here and it shouldn't be business as normal.

[jimlosaltos]

I'm sure Aslan Karatsev just randomly picked this t-shirt out of a drawer for his practice at Estoril today <g>

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