MOSCOW, April 20 The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) criticized the decision of the organizers Wimbledon to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from participation in the tournament. On Wednesday, the organizers of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season, because of the situation in Ukraine, refused to allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to compete. A similar decision was made by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), in connection with which athletes from these countries will miss the ATP grass tournaments in London and Eastbourne, as well as WTA tournaments in Nottingham and Birmingham. «We believe that today's unilateral decision by Wimbledon and LTA to suspend players from Russia and Belarus from UK grass tournaments this year is unfair and could set a devastating precedent for the game. Ethnic discrimination is also a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon, which states that player participation is based solely on ATP rankings.» on the website of the organization. Earlier, ATP and WTA announced the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to competitions only in a neutral status. ATP, after the announcement of the organizers of Wimbledon, stressed that it would not change these rules.
