Wimbledon is set to remove their ban on Russian and Belarussian next year to avoid the risk of British tennis being expelled from a top governing body, according to The Times newspaper.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has been reportedly threatened with having their membership removed from the ATP should they repeat a ban for the second year running. In 2022 all British tennis events, including Wimbledon, implemented a ban on players from the two countries due to the war in Ukraine. Officials said their decision to do so was to avoid the risk of Russia using the event as propaganda, especially if one of their players won. Those banned from playing include Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Victoria Azarenka and Daria Kasatkina.
In response to the ban, both the ATP and WTA removed points from being awarded at the events as a protest. Meaning that Wimbledon champions Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina didn’t receive the 1000 rankings points that they would have any other year.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the LTA has been fined $1 million by the ATP over the ban which worked out as $200,000 per tournament within the ATP’s jurisdiction that was affected. However, it is understood that Wimbledon, which is governed separately from the ATP, was not included even though that event had the biggest impact.
In response to the fine, the LTA issued a fiery statement accusing the ATP of having a ‘surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine, and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced.’ The governing body said that no recognition of the ‘exemptional circumstances’ was taken into place and will plan their response once they await the outcome against the fine they received from the WTA earlier this year.
As for the response from Russia, former world No.1 doubles player and 2017 Wimbledon champion Elena Vesnina said during an interview with the website Championat that she believed the fine was ‘fair.’ Drawing comparisons between the current situation and that of Dubai who was fined for refusing to grant visas to Israeli players.
“I think this punishment is fair. The ATP had an agreement with tournaments that, on a national basis, they did not have the right to remove athletes. A similar situation was in Dubai when Israeli tennis players were not allowed. In the year 2006-2007, Israeli tennis players applied for a visa, but they were not allowed. The tournament in Dubai was fined. ATP strictly said that if this happens again, all tournaments will be penalized, regardless of their categories,” said Vesnina who reached a high of No.13 in singles.
“The ATP made the same decision they made on the situation with the Israeli tennis players in Dubai. Now the situation is more serious and larger. ATP has shown that they stand up for their players. Athletes should not be responsible for this, and they have no right to remove them on a national basis – this is very logical and correct.”
The biggest obstacle for the LTA and Wimbledon in lifting their ban in 2023 could be the British government which advised them to implement the ban in the first place.
It is not known when a final decision will be made.
