The tennis players’ association ATP has fined the British association LTA in the amount of one million US dollars. The LTA had banned professionals from Russia and Belarus from their tournaments.
The tennis players’ association ATP has fined the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) in the amount of one million US dollars. The LTA had excluded professionals from Russia and Belarus from their tournaments because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. If the ban persists, the ATP is said to have threatened to remove the UK tournaments from the calendar.
Overall had the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Pros from Russia and Belarus banned from five ATP events in the UK this year. These were the grass tournaments last summer, which traditionally form the preparatory program for the highlight of the season in Wimbledon form. Also at the tournament classic at the Church Road Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka and Co. were not allowed to start this year.
ATP threatens to be excluded from the tour – LTA “deeply disappointed”
As British media reported unanimously, the threat LTA an exclusion from the ATP-Tour, should players be excluded from the tournaments again next year.
At the LTA, those responsible reacted with incomprehension. “The LTA is deeply disappointed with this outcome“, it said in a statement. The ATP had shown no understanding of the extraordinary circumstances. “The ATP appear to view this matter as a direct breach of their rules – with a surprising lack of empathy for the situation in Ukraine and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced.“
Association already penalized by WTA – appealed
The British Tennis Association had previously been fined $1 million by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for banning Russian and Belarusian players, but has appealed the decision.
Those responsible left open how the association will react to the sanctions of the ATP. “We will carefully consider our response and we await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA’s decision and sanctions.“
LTA: “Noticeable impact on British tennis”
However, the association spoke of “noticeable effects” that the high penalties of both players’ associations would have on the development of tennis and the organization of tournaments – implying that they felt blackmailed by the ATP and WTA. For example, the association has planned a series of challenger tournaments for 2023, which are particularly important for professionals from lower regions of the world rankings, the BBC quoted from a statement. The LTA will now “financially no longer be able to organize these tournaments if further fines are threatened.”