The ATP, which manages the men’s professional tennis circuit, and the WTA, which manages the women’s circuit, announced on Friday in various statements that they will not give any points for their respective world rankings in the next Wimbledon tournament if the exception remains. of Russian and Belarusian players for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is central to our Tour.”
“Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system. It is also inconsistent with our ranking agreement.”
“In the absence of a change in circumstances, it is with great regret and reluctance that we see no other option but to remove points from the Wimbledon ATP Rankings for 2022,” the men’s body said, two days before the start of the French Open, Just over a month before the Wimbledon game starts on June 27th.
Following this, the WTA Tour joined its male counterparts in a harsh statement from Steve Simon, its leader. “The recent decisions by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to ban athletes from competing in upcoming grass court events in the UK violate that core principle, which is clearly stated on the WTA rules, the Grand Slams rules and the agreement that the WTA has on Grand Slams “.
“As a result of AELTC’s position of not fulfilling its obligation to use the WTA ranking for entry to Wimbledon and proceed to a non-merit based partial field, the WTA has made the difficult decision not to award WTA points. .WTA ranking for this year’s Wimbledon Championships “. Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne which also complied with the ban will retain their WTA ranking points.
The All England Club said in April that it would not allow Russians or Belarusians to compete in the Grand Slam grass-court tournament. Russian athletes have been banned from competing in many sports, including soccer qualifiers at the World Cup, since the country began attacking Ukraine in February. Belarus aided Russia in the aggression and suffered the same fate.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club move is the first time players have been banned on the basis of nationality since the period immediately after World War II, without including German and Japanese players.
Source: La Verdad
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