St. Petersburg, April 20, Taras Barabash. The head of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) Shamil Tarpishchev, commenting on the decision of the organizers of the Wimbledon tournament not to allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to participate in the competition, said that the sport has become a victim of the general political situation. The organizers of the Wimbledon tournament on Wednesday refused Russian and Belarusian tennis players refused to participate in the competition due to the situation in Ukraine. A statement on the official website of the tournament notes that the recommendations of the British authorities were taken into account. It is emphasized that the organizers are ready to reconsider the decision later if «circumstances change» before June.
"Such a common position. Both Paralympic athletes and children are offended, our athletes do not participate in competitions. The question arises, what does the sport have to do with it? They say all the time that sport is out of politics, but it turned out that sport got into a general mess", said Tarpishchev.
The Wimbledon tennis tournament will be held from June 27 to July 10. The current winners of the competition are Serb Novak Djokovic and Romanian Simona Halep. At the 2021 tournament, the best among men among Russians was Karen Khachanov, who reached the quarterfinals, in women's doubles, Russians Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina reached the final.