Britain’s Garden Tennis Affiliation (LTA) has been fined 820,000 kilos ($1.49 million) by the ATP for banning male gamers from Russia and Belarus from a number of matches over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Key factors:
- The ATP labelled the ban unfair and probably damaging to future occasions
- UK Tradition Secretary Michelle Donelan urged the ATP to “consider carefully” in regards to the message they’re sending
- The ban on Russian and Belarusian gamers sparked widespread controversy
Gamers have been banned from the UK’s summer season grass-court tournaments held within the build-up to Wimbledon, which grew to become the primary grand slam event to ban particular person rivals from the 2 international locations.
The ATP and WTA have been on the time upset with the choice and the LTA now feels the ATP has overeacted.
“The LTA is deeply dissatisfied with this,” the LTA mentioned in an announcement.
“The ATP, in its discovering, has proven no recognition of the distinctive circumstances created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or the worldwide sporting neighborhood and UK authorities’s response to that invasion.”
The ATP mentioned in April that the “unilateral choice” by Wimbledon to exclude gamers from Russia and Belarus was unfair and will probably set a harmful precedent for the sport.
UK Tradition Secretary Michelle Donelan mentioned on Wednesday that the overwhelming majority of the worldwide sporting neighborhood had stood “shoulder to shoulder” in condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The UK has taken a world-leading function to construct this worldwide response,” Ms Donelan mentioned.
“We’re clear that sport can’t be used to legitimise this lethal invasion, and that athletes representing the Russian or Belarusian states needs to be banned from competing in different international locations.
“Regardless of widespread condemnation, the worldwide tennis excursions are decided to be outcasts on this, with funding within the development of our home recreation hampered because of this.
“That is the fallacious transfer by the ATP and WTA. I urge them to consider carefully in regards to the message this sends and to rethink.”
Reuters
