Fine and threats: the ATP punished Great Britain for not letting Russian tennis players play in that country

The ATP and WTA threatened the British Tennis Federation (LTA) with suspending the tournaments for the men’s and women’s circuits that take place in that country if they do not authorize tennis players from Russia and Belarus to compete in 2023, whose participation in Great Britain has been prohibited since the invasion of Ukraine, according to the LTA on Wednesday. .

Also, the ATP inflicted a fine of one million dollars on him (953,000 euros) to the LTA for excluding tennis players from the two countries last summer in retaliation for the war in Ukraine. This sanction was divided in parts of 200,000 dollars (190,000 euros) among the five affected tournaments: Queen’s, Eastbourne, y los Challengers de Surbiton, Nottingham e Ilkley. For its part, the WTA also fined the LTA $750,000 (713,000 euros) for its tournaments in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne, and $250,000 (237,000 euros) to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which organizes Wimbledon.

The ATP, which oversees the men’s tour tournaments excluding the Grand Slams, which are run by the International Federation (ITF), also warned the LTA that it could lose its membership in the organization if it repeats the measure. “We stick to our original position on this issue, that unilateral decision making by ATP members threatens our ability to operate as a global sport. We believe that the measures taken protect in the long term our sport and its commitment to base participation on merit, without discrimination, for individual athletes ”, he remarked in a statement.

The LTA was “deeply disappointed”, and reproached the ATP for its “surprising lack of empathy for the situation in Ukraine and lack of apparent understanding of the unique circumstances” you are faced with. “We will prepare our response and await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA’s decision and sanction,” the LTA statement concluded.

On Wednesday afternoon, the ATP told the AFP agency that it maintains its position: “We believe that the adopted measure protects the long-term future of our sport and our commitment to the merit participation system, without discrimination.”

In the same sense, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, accused the British Government of violating the Olympic Charter, which guarantees the political neutrality of your institution. “Making a decision, a political decision on sports competitions, clearly does not agree with the resolutions and commitments (of the Charter) and does not agree with the mission of international sport,” said the leader after a meeting of the Committee IOC Executive meeting in Lausanne. “Governments should not decide for political reasons who should or should not participate. in a certain sporting event”, he continued. “Participation in sporting events must be based on sporting merit and not political considerations,” he insisted.

Wimbledon, which is independent of the ATP and WTA, had also rejected the participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players. In response, both organizations decided to take the ranking points off the grass-court Grand Slam, which was not affected by the sanctions and fines imposed on the LTA anyway.

THE NATION