Russian and Belarusian players to be unbanned from Wimbledon... and then what?

Mike Dickson @Mike_Dickson_DM
·26s
Wimbledon statement: 'There was a strong and very disappointing reaction from some governing bodies in tennis to the position taken last year with consequences which, if continued, would be damaging to the interests of players, fans, The Championships and British tennis.'

They were surprisingly honest with their reasoning.

Tumaini Carayol @tumcarayol
·3m
Huge news: Wimbledon and the LTA will allow Russian and Belarusians to compete at their events this year.

They will be required to sign "neutrality agreements" confirming that they are not representing their countries and will not express support or Russia's invasion of Ukraine

I'm pretty sure that in all tennis governing bodies it states that all players, with the exception of team competitions, represent themselves only and not any nation. The flag and nationality next to their name is for reference purposes only. In any case it is a shame that governments feel the need to tarnish sports with politics.

They had no choice, they were looking silly for being the only tournament not to include them, making them look even more stuffy and archaic than their image already is. What happened last year was no good to no one, Rybakina should be 3rd in the rankings by now with a chance to finish year end number 1, with some help from Iga not defending big points in the 2 slams she won. The irony being Ryba is Russian anyway.

R soles.
Let's hope the fines paid for virtue signalling were worth it.

Mar 31, 2023 -- 8:37AM, mesmerised wrote:

They had no choice, they were looking silly for being the only tournament not to include them, making them look even more stuffy and archaic than their image already is. What happened last year was no good to no one, Rybakina should be 3rd in the rankings by now with a chance to finish year end number 1, with some help from Iga not defending big points in the 2 slams she won. The irony being Ryba is Russian anyway.

The price for listening to Boris & his bs.

indeed a totally farcical decision. who in their right mind would take their lead from johnson's clown government ?

Its a step in the right direction for me, getting them to sign a document at least, but I think and hope they go further. They need to ban any Russian or Belorussian flags, tops, hats or anything that might be worn or carried by spectators, esp during matches involving players from these countries. Won't be easy but that what they have to do, IMO.

^ That was already happening elsewhere.