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Wimbledon, the greatest tennis tournament par excellence, has reconsidered and will allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to compete during the 2023 season. The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the historic Grand Slam prohibiting the participation of Russians and Belarusians in its tournament.
The decision will be officially announced during the next month. and it has occurred due to pressure from the ATP and WTA that threatened to withdraw the licenses of British tournaments, in addition to imposing harsh economic sanctions and denouncing them in court, according to Daily Mail.
During the past year, ATP and WTA decided to remove Wimbledon from the points awarded by the tournament facing the classifications of both circuits and, in addition, the English tennis federation was financially sanctioned for prohibiting the participation of Russian and Belarusian players in all British tournaments: Queen’s or Eastbourne, among others.
Daniel Medvedevafter hearing the news from Indian Wells, acknowledged that it is a privilege to play at Wimbledon: “I like to play on grass, I like to play at Wimbledon and I would be happy to play again this yearif at the end I can play I hope to have great results”, he sentenced.
Requirements to participate
Russian and Belarusian tennis players will have to sign a code of conduct to be able to participate in Wimbledon. Said code establishes that they may not carry no flag of their country and they will not speak favorably of it eitheras long as the war continues to take place on Ukrainian territory.
They must also participate under a neutral flag, as it has been done in all competitions since the conflict broke out. In addition, the tennis players will be automatically expelled from the tournament if they speak out in favor of Vladimir Putin and Russia.
To finish, it will prohibit the presence of Russian and Belarusian flags in the stands during Wimbledon and UK grass tour tournaments. The decision will become official in the coming weeks, when Wimbledon and the LTA guarantee the neutrality of the affected tennis players.
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