PARIS – Belarus tennis officials said yesterday that the Wimbledon ban on players from their country as well as Russia will only “incite hatred and intolerance” and they threatened legal action to have the sanction overturned.
“The Belarusian Tennis Federation categorically condemns the decision taken by the organisers of Wimbledon to suspend Belarusian and Russian tennis players,” the BTF said in a statement.
“Such destructive actions in no way contribute to the resolution of conflicts, but only incite hatred and intolerance on a national basis.”
The BTF added they are consulting with “international law firms” over Wimbledon’s decision which was taken in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Amongst the Belarusian players set to miss Wimbledon are fourth-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, a semi-finalist at the All England Club last year, and former world number one and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka, 32, made the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2011 and 2012.
The BTF also criticised initial UK government plans to force Russian and Belarusian players to sign statements condemning the war as a pre-condition of being allowed to play at Wimbledon.
This showed “incompetence and ignorance”, they said.
“Illegal decisions of international tennis organisations in relation to our athletes undermine, first of all, the reputation of these organisations, and the inconsistency of statements and actions between them only confirm the incompetence and unilateral decision-making,” the BTF added.
“At the moment, consultations of the BTF leadership with international law firms on sports law are ongoing and a strategy is being developed that is aimed at protecting, first of all, Belarusian tennis players around the world, and tennis in the Republic of Belarus as a whole.” – AFP, April 22, 2022
