World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic hit out at the “crazy” decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s tournament over the invasion of Ukraine.
The Serb said he disagreed with war, but said banning athletes was unfair.
“I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war,” he said at the ATP event in Belgrade.
“I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history.
“However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. The players, the tennis players, the athletes have nothing to do with it (war). When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.”
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which runs Wimbledon, said it was acting to “limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible”.
But the ATP and WTA organisers have also criticised the ban, saying it was “unfair” and “very disappointing”.
Russian men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian female world number four Aryna Sabalenka — a Wimbledon semifinalist last year — are the leading players affected by the ban.
“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,” an AELTC statement said.
“Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible.”
“It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon,” the AELTC added.
Players from Russia and Belarus have been able to compete on the ATP and WTA tours since the war in Ukraine started, but they were not allowed to use their national flags.
The ITF had already banned both countries’ teams from the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.
ATP and WTA bosses claim the Wimbledon ban is discriminatory and sets a damaging precedent.
“We believe that today’s unilateral decision by Wimbledon and the LTA to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year’s British grass-court swing is unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game,” an ATP statement said.
“Discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP Rankings.
“Our sport is proud to operate on the fundamental principles of merit and fairness, where players compete as individuals to earn their place in tournaments based on the ATP Rankings.” The WTA said the decision was “neither fair nor justified”.
“We are very disappointed in today’s announcement,” the WTA said in a statement.
“A fundamental principal of the WTA is that individual athletes may participate in professional tennis events based on merit and without any form of discrimination.”
Russia called the ban “unacceptable”.
“Once again they simply turn athletes into hostages to political prejudice, political intrigues,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“This is unacceptable. Taking into account that Russia is a very strong tennis country, our athletes are at the top of world rankings, the competition itself will suffer from their removal.”
Martina Navratilova, meanwhile, claimed Wimbledon was letting politics “destroy tennis” in an emotional interview on LBC Radio.
Speaking from personal experience, having renounced her Czech nationality in 1975 at the height of the Cold War to take US citizenship, Navratilova said she was “almost in tears” at the decision.
“Exclusion is not the way to go,” a “devastated” Navratilova said.
“And as much as I feel for the Ukrainian players and Ukrainian people… I think this is just going further than [the AELTC] needed to be going, quite frankly. I think it’s the wrong decision. It’s unfair to the whole world. There’s so much bad going on. I think this is not helpful.
“I understand the banning of teams, of course, but on an individual level, I just think it’s wrong.”
