The ATP on Wednesday fined Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) 820,000 kilos ($1 million) for banning male gamers from Russia and Belarus from this yr’s summer time grasscourt occasions forward of the Championships over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Players had been banned from the UK grass-court tournaments held within the build-up to Wimbledon, which turned the primary Grand Slam event to ban particular person rivals from the 2 nations — a transfer that was condemned by the boys’s and ladies’s excursions.
“The LTA is deeply disappointed with this,” the LTA mentioned in an announcement.
“The ATP, in its finding, has shown no recognition of the exceptional circumstances created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or the international sporting community and UK Government’s response to that invasion.”
The ATP mentioned in April that the “unilateral decision” by Wimbledon to exclude gamers from Russia and Belarus was unfair and will probably set a harmful precedent for the sport.
UK Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan mentioned on Wednesday that the overwhelming majority of the worldwide sporting neighborhood had stood “shoulder to shoulder” in condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The UK has taken a world-leading role to build this international response,” Donelan mentioned. “We are clear that sport cannot be used to legitimise this deadly invasion, and that athletes representing the Russian or Belarusian states should be banned from competing in other countries.
“Despite widespread condemnation, the international tennis tours are determined to be outcasts in this, with investment in the growth of our domestic game hampered as a result.
“This is the wrong move by the ATP and WTA. I urge them to think carefully about the message this sends and to reconsider.”