March 31, (THEWILL) – The All England Club has announced that Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to compete as neutral athletes at this year’s Wimbledon.
Last year, Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam tournament to refuse entry to players from those countries. The announcement comes with certain conditions, including prohibiting expressions of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and entry by players receiving funding from those states or companies operated or controlled by them.
In a statement, the All England Club said: “Our current intention is to accept entries from Russian and Belarusian players, subject to them competing as ‘neutral’ athletes and complying with appropriate conditions.”
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) was fined £1.4m by the ATP and WTA for last year’s decision, and no ranking points were awarded from the tournament. The All England Club also referenced the strong reaction from some governing bodies in tennis to last year’s decision, adding that “alignment between the Grand Slams” is increasingly important in the current tennis environment.
Wimbledon begins on July 3 and runs through to July 16.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
