The biggest tennis tournament in the world made a tough decision.
Daniil Medvedev will not play at Wimbledon unless the tournament makes a fresh decision. EPA / AOP
Wimbledon, the world’s largest tennis tournament, will exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis stars from this year’s grand slam tournament.
The men’s tennis federation ATP and the women’s tennis federation WTA have not excluded athletes from the games because of the Russian offensive war, but Wimbledon made its own decision.
“We are aware that this is a tough decision for the individual athlete, so we deeply regret that they will suffer the consequences of the actions of the Russian administration,” says Wimbledon. in the bulletin.
According to Wimbledon, the decision could be reversed if “circumstances change”.
Top names out
Russians and Belarusians are strongly represented at the top of tennis. Among other men in Russia Daniil Medvedev is second on the world list and Andrei Rublev eighth. Women in Belarus Aryna Sabalenka is the ranking of Nelonen.
In addition to these top players, many other tennis stars are now out of the big tournament.
– We considered alternative solutions for a very long time, but we did not see any other alternatives. A tournament of this size provides a platform that is a threat to player safety and would be too big a showcase for the Russian administration, Wimbledon argues.
Wimbledon begins this year on June 27 and ends on July 10.