The decision of the organizers of Wimbledon to remove Russians and Belarusians from the participation unexpectedly caused a wide negative response in the tennis environment.
It would seem that in the world of sports they are already accustomed to harsh sanctions against athletes from the two countries and are calm about this.
Moreover, in tennis, unlike other sports, athletes have retained the opportunity to compete in international tournaments, albeit in a neutral status.
And the first to respond to the corresponding verdict of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) were the two main organizations - ATP and WTA.
They almost simultaneously issued statements in which they called the exclusion of individual players from tournaments in the UK as discrimination based on nationality.
“A fundamental principle of the WTA is that athletes can compete in professional tennis competition on merit without being subject to any discrimination.
This principle is expressly stated in our rules and has been agreed upon by both AELTC and LTA.
The prohibition of discrimination is also clearly stated in their own rules and in the rules of the Grand Slam tournaments, ”the WTA said in a statement.
This initiative was followed by many well-known players who demanded fairness for colleagues.
So, Novak Djokovic voiced his position.
According to the first racket of the planet, athletes are not to blame for what is happening, and attempts to mix sports and politics do not end well.
“I will always be among the first to speak out against the war.
I am a child of war and understand the emotional trauma they lead to.
We in Serbia know what happened in 1999, ordinary people always suffer.
We have had many wars in the Balkans.
However, despite the foregoing, I cannot support Wimbledon's decision," Djokovic said.
The legendary Martina Navratilova also took his side.
The 18-time Grand Slam winner took the incident to heart and supported the Russians and Belarusians.
She recalled that some of them publicly spoke out for peace, but still fell under restrictions.
“An exception is wrong.
And despite the fact that I have great sympathy for the Ukrainian players and the Ukrainian people, I honestly believe that such a step was not necessary.
This is the wrong decision and it is unfair to the whole world.
There is so much bad going on, and I think it will not do any good, ”The Telegraph quotes Navratilova.
In her opinion, restrictions should be maintained for Russians and Belarusians in team competitions, but not in individual tournaments.
In turn, the American tennis player Mardy Fish called what is happening insanity.
“Well, crazy times have come in men's tennis.
Djokovic was not allowed to play at the Australian Open because of his vaccination refusal... Daniil Medvedev was not allowed to play at Wimbledon because of his nationality... What do you say?
Fish asked.
Even Elina Svitolina spoke about the situation, although earlier several Ukrainian tennis players called for the removal of Russians and Belarusians from all competitions if they did not publicly condemn the conduct of a special operation on the territory of the state.
However, a day later, the 25th racket of the planet clarified that she did not want to impose tough sanctions on all rivals.
“Now we have not pursued such a goal.
In the published appeal, they wanted to express their opinion - what we consider the right decision.
And again, we do not want them to be completely removed, we just want them to speak out about their choice: they are with the rest of the world or with the Russians and the Russian government.
For me, this is the main issue, ”said Svitolina on the BBC.
At the same time, not only well-known tennis players, but also ordinary fans turned out to be on the side of the Russians and Belarusians.
Many of them considered the pressure from the LTA and AELTC to be unfair and discriminatory.
For example, the results of a survey published on social networks by the well-known American journalist Ben Rothenberg turned out to be very revealing.
He invited his subscribers to answer one question: “Do they support the removal of tennis players from two countries from Wmbledon?”
At the time of writing, more than 70% of respondents answered in the negative.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon's social media has been attacked by angry fans since the ban.
Many of them stood up personally for the best domestic player Daniil Medvedev, whom they wanted to see on the English courts.
In particular, fans urged the organizers to start thinking rationally and stop "hating Russians".
“The decision is about as bad as the strawberries you sell are bad.
Tell me, aren't you going to ask every viewer for his political leanings before you sell your expensive tickets?
Or does it only work with members when you pay?
I hope many tennis fans will boycott you, ”reads one of the comments.
In Russia and Belarus, they do not intend to put up with a ban on participation in all tournaments in the UK.
President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev promised that lawyers would study the relevant restrictions in the near future.
“We are working on this issue.
All sports organizations support our participation, we need to study and then decide.
This is a violation of human rights, nonsense.
Although in tennis everyone supports us, but not England.
We submitted this issue to international affairs for study.
With athletes full order.
Djokovic called this verdict crazy.
ATP and WTA think we should be allowed.
The decision of the English club is a violation of all norms and rules, ”the Championship official quotes.
The Belarusian Tennis Federation emphasized that the imposition of sanctions does not help to resolve the conflict, but only incites hatred and intolerance on a national basis.
According to the BTF, the decision also runs counter to previous rulings by international tennis organizations that allowed Russians and Belarusians to enter the court in a neutral status.
“The pressure and discrimination on the basis of nationality from the British government, which at the same time speaks of preventing the manifestation of racism, demonstrates the policy of double standards applied by the country's leadership to athletes from Belarus and Russia ... All this only confirms our confidence that the world sports and international sports organizations have now been turned into an instrument of political pressure and manipulation, and, unfortunately, they no longer have anything to do with the development of sports and its popularization,” the official website of the BTF says.