Wimbledon, the ban on Russian players is ready to be lifted

• Tennis

The news was launched exclusively by the Daily Mail and also confirmed by the main British media. Now we await only the official announcement from the organizers, which should arrive shortly. The 2023 edition of Wimbledon will also host Russian and Belarusian tennis players, after the ban imposed last year due to the conflict in Ukraine.

The All England Club would have decided to retrace its steps by allowing players like Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Aryna Sabalenka to participate in the third Grand Slam of the season, but with some important conditions that it would strongly like to introduce and enforce on these athletes.

In fact, according to reports from the Daily Mail, the tournament could expel someone if they show support for Russia with some targeted action on the courts. Officials want to have this power to ensure that this neutrality is strictly enforced this summer.

Russian players will not be forced to make a public statement of opposition to the war in Ukraine, as proposed for example in 2022 by then sports minister Nigel Huddleston, but they could be asked to sign a code of conduct before the start of the sporting event .

Details have yet to be worked out, but any overt displays of support for Russia, such as carrying a flag or speaking positively about the country, are likely to lead to sanctions (including expulsion from the tournament).

ATP and WTA had threatened the LTA

Wimbledon was the only major competition to have introduced a punitive measure against these athletes, who have been competing in the ATP and WTA circuits for some time without the symbol of the Russian flag.

The two associations had also threatened the LTA to cancel all grass training events in the United Kingdom if the non-participation of Russians and Belarusians was confirmed. Therefore, this decision would be taken favorably by the LTA, which could lose up to 20 million pounds if competitions such as Queen's and Eastbourne were excluded from the calendar. All that remains is to wait for news from the Aeltc in the coming days or weeks.