“If politics interferes in sport, the result is not good,” says Novak Djokovic. Photo: Darko Vojinovic/AP/dpa. (Source: dpa)
Belgrade (AP) – World number one Novak Djokovic has heavily criticized the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian tennis professionals from this year’s tournament in Wimbledon. After his opening win at his home tournament in Belgrade, the Serb called the decision “crazy”.
Tennis professionals or athletes in general have nothing to do with the war, said Djokovic. “If politics interferes with sport, the result is not good,” said the six-time Wimbledon champion. In view of the wars in the Balkans, the 34-year-old recalled that he himself was a war child. Djokovic emphasized that he was the first to condemn wars, also with a view to the suffering of the civilian population.
In response to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Wimbledon organizers announced on Wednesday that professionals from Russia and Belarus would not be allowed to take part in the grass classic from June 27th to July 10th. Among others, the world number two Daniil Medvedev from Russia and the world number four Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus are affected. The organizers admitted that it was hard for those affected to suffer from the actions of the Russian leadership.
Wimbledon is the first tennis event to take this step. There was also criticism of the two professional organizations ATP and WTA. Numerous other sports have already excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from their events in recent weeks.