Wimbledon lifts ban on Russian and Belarusian Players

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Big news came out in the tennis world Friday afternoon, announcing that Wimbledon, one of the most prestigious sports events, will eliminate the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, allowing them to compete at Wimbledon once again. The club had initially banned Russian and Belarusian players due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in what was a way between the two countries.

With the ban now lifted, Russian and Belarusian players will now be allowed to compete as “neutral” athletes as long as they don’t reveal any indication that they support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or receive any funding from Russian and Belarusian or sponsorships.

The All England Club would make a statement saying:

"There was a strong and very disappointing reaction from some governing bodies in tennis to the position taken by the All England Club and the LTA last year with consequences which, if continued, would be damaging to the interests of players, fans, The Championships and British tennis, tennis events outside of the UK have experienced a year of competition with players from Russia and Belarus competing as 'neutral' athletes. We also consider alignment between the Grand Slams to be increasingly important in the current tennis environment."

The Lawn Tennis Association (the governing body of tennis in Great Britain) was condemned for banning players from Russia and Belarus that flashed a damaging outlook on the image of the sport. The LTA was fined $1 million by the ATP(Association of Tennis Professionals) last December.

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The ban has affected some of tennis’s best players, such as No.5-ranked Daniil Medvedev and No. 2-ranked Arnya Sabalenka who will now be able to return as well as No.6-ranked Andrey Rublev.

This is big news for tennis as it will allow an abundance of tennis hopefuls from Russia and Belarusia who are qualified to compete at Wimbledon to show the world what they're capable of on one of the biggest stages in tennis.