Russia's Daniil Medvedev was world number 1 when a ban prevented him from playing in Wimbledon 2022. Picture Credit: Twitter
The ATP has fined Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) £820,000 ($1.49 million) on Wednesday for imposing a ban on Russian and Belarusian players. Notably, the players mentioned countries were barred from competing across five events – Queen’s Club, Eastbourne, Surbiton, Nottingham, and Ilkley – a decision that cost them £164,018 ($200,284) fine per event.
The All-England Club also decided to ban the players from Wimbledon, which led the ATP and WTA to strip the tournament of its ranking points. In response, LTA admitted that the organization is disappointed with the outcome and claims ATP showed no recognition of the exceptional circumstances created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the international sporting community and the UK Government’s response to that invasion.’
“The ATP appear to regard this matter as a straightforward breach of their rules – with a surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced,” read LTA’s statement.
However, LTA also admitted that the financial impact of the fines will affect their ability to ‘develop and host tennis’ in the future.’ |
“The financial impact of both this fine and the WTA’s fine will have a material impact on the LTA’s ability to develop and host tennis in this country. We had intended to host a number of ATP Challenger level events to give more opportunities to lower ranked players in the first quarter of 2023 and will now not be able to do this, particularly given the possibility of further fines,” read the LTA’s statement.
Meanwhile, UK’s Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has responded to the Lawn Tennis Association being fined by the ATP and WTA on Wednesday, terming it a ‘wrong move’ and urging them to ‘reconsider the decision.’
“The UK has taken a world-leading role to build this international response. We are clear that sport cannot be used to legitimize this deadly invasion, and that the athletes representing the Russian or Belarusian states should be banned from competing in other countries,” Ms. Donelan said.