Wimbledon's ban "only incites hatred and intolerance on the basis of nationality," Belarusian Tennis Federation says.
Belarus has sent a blistering reply to Wimbledon's ban.

Wimbledon announced it has banned Russian and Belarusian players from the 2022 Championships in condemnation of Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

More: Djokovic Does Not Support Wimbledon Ban on Russians

The Belarusian Tennis Federation ripped the ban as as "destructive action" that "in no way contributes to the resolution of conflicts, but only incite hatred and intolerance on the basis of nationality."

Calling out "incompetence" in Wimbledon's decision making, the Belarusian Tennis Federation said in a statement this is a clear case of politics intruding on sport.

The Federation also questioned why players from nations involved in past conflicts were not previously banned from the grass-court Grand Slam.

"Throughout tennis history, the world has experienced armed conflicts – in Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Yugoslavia and other countries, but never until now have tournament organizers excluded athletes from the UNITED STATES, Great Britain and other countries from participating, and other athletes have not pushed the public to divide tennis players on a national basis," the Belarusian Tennis Federation said. "We once again note the policy of double standards applied to the current situation.

"All this only confirms our confidence that world sport and international sports organizations have now been turned into an instrument of political pressure and manipulation and, unfortunately, have nothing to do with the development of sports and its popularization."

Last July, Belarusian No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka reached her maiden major semifinal at Wimbledon.

Pointing out Grand Slam champions including Novak Djokovic and Martina Navratilova have publicly opposed Wimbledon's ban, the BTF said it will take legal action to "neutralize the current situation and assures that it will continue to defend the rights of Belarusian tennis players to participate in international tournaments."

"Absolutely politicized decisions lead our entire sport to global destabilization – the ASIA-Pacific and the WTA have already sharply criticized the decision to suspend athletes from the tournament," the BTF said in its statement. "Famous athletes such as Novak Djokovic and Martina Navratilova also condemned the decision. The decision goes against the joint statement of international tennis organizations, which allowed the players of Belarus and Russia to their personal competitions in a neutral status.

"Obviously, the reason for such a tough decision was the direct pressure of the British government, for example, the statements of the Minister of Sports Nigel Huddleston about the need to allow Belarusian and Russian tennis players to participate in the tournament only after signing a special declaration condemning the special operation and providing guarantees that athletes do not support the current government in their countries and do not receive state funding. Such statements indicate the incompetence and ignorance of officials from the UK of the state system of supporting sports in Belarus and Russia."

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The Russian and his peers had hopes that an alternative decision might be made by Wimbledon organizers.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday April 21, 2022

World No.8 Andrey Rublev spoke to reporters about Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s Championships (and other grass-court events in the U.K. this summer) on Thursday at Belgrade, after he qualified for the quarterfinals with a 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 victory over Jiri Lehecka.

Rublev says that he and several other players joined a call with Wimbledon management on Wednesday, and added that the players were committed to donating all their prize money to Ukrainian relief efforts.

“To be honest, the reasons that they gave, there is no even logic [for what] they propose,” Rublev said. “And I understand, for example, if they banned us—if they banned Russian players and Belarusian players—and at least it made like a half-percent or something of change or help. But it’s not gonna do anything and it’s not gonna change anything.

"Because the thing that’s happening now, it’s completely discrimination [against] us.”

Rublev said that he and other players hoped that Wimbledon would give them the chance to play, and added that they were ready to forfeit all of their prize money to do it.

A few notes before I post Rublev’s comment on the Wimbledon decision. 1) He was clearly emotional & expressed that he feels under a lot of pressure. 2) He apologized for not being able to express himself as clearly as he would like (in English). 3) He spoke “from the heart.” pic.twitter.com/dmnUxl7p4P

— Ana Mitrić (@ana_mitric) April 21, 2022

“What we proposed to Wimbledon—and I hope that it will make sense and I hope that they will think about it—is to [give us] a chance to choose if we want to play or we don’t want to play,” he said. “And if there is a statement that we need to sign, on top of that, [we will give] all the prize money to humanitarian help—to the families who are suffering, to the kids who [are] suffering.”

The AELTC’s decision came after high-level meetings between the LTA and the British government. They left room to change the policy if there are signifcant changes in the week’s and months to come.

“If circumstances change materially between now and June, we will consider and respond accordingly,” The AELTC said.

The ban has been criticized by the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as icons Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and others.

Wimbledon says that their goal was to "limit Russia's global influence through the strongest means possible."

"In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships,” their statement read.

Photo credit: Serbia Open Facebook