The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced that Russians and Belarusians will be admitted to Wimbledon.
“Our decision last year to ban Russian and Belarusian players from our tournaments resulted in the ATP and WTA imposing severe penalties on us, including the real possibility of our membership being terminated if we are again ineligible in 2023.
This would mean the cancellation of our professional tennis tournaments at Queen’s Club, Eastbourne, Birmingham and Nottingham this year and beyond.
We have repeatedly opposed these sanctions and remain deeply disappointed with the measures taken,” the statement said.
Russian and Belarusian players, as well as their teams, will have to sign a “declaration of neutrality”. “This is in line with UK government guidelines and this approach is being followed in other sports.
The new declaration will apply to all LTA tournaments from the start of the grass season.
Compliance with declarations of player neutrality will be monitored and enforced by the tours,” the statement said.
At the same time, the flags of Russia and Belarus and other symbols and actions in support will be prohibited at the tournaments.
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