The ATP distanced itself from the ban on Russians and Belarusians at Wimbledon and said it was a “unilateral”, “discriminatory”, “unfair” decision and that it can “set a dangerous precedent in sport.”
This Wednesday, Wimbledon and the British Tennis Federation (LTA) announced the veto to Russian and Belarusian tennis players for the dispute of the third Grand Slam of the season and tournaments on British soil from the grass tour.
However, the ATP has distanced itself from these decisions and has offered its support to the tennis playerswhich may keep playing in the rest of the tournaments of the circuit, as long as they do it without the Russian and Belarusian flag and without symbols that can be related to the country.
“We believe that the unilateral decision made by Wimbledon and the LTA is unfair and has the potential to set a dangerous precedent in the sport. Discrimination based on nationality constitutes a breach of our agreement with Wimbledonwhich explains that a player’s entry into a tournament is based on their ranking,” the ATP said in a statement.
Wimbledon has been a pioneer in preventing individual athletes from playing a tournamentwhile the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has already banned them from team competitions such as the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup. (R)
Source: Eluniverso
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