MOSCOW, Apr 26 Tennis Federations of Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland performed in support of the decision of the organizers of the Wimbledon tournament to exclude Russians and Belarusians from competitions, according to the official website of the Norwegian Tennis Federation. Last week, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) refused Russian and Belarusian tennis players to participate in Wimbledon due to the situation in Ukraine . Also, players from Russia and Belarus were banned from participating in grass tournaments in the UK under the auspices of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). «We, the undersigned federations, support the position that we have taken in the LTA and AELTC regarding Russian and Belarusian players participating in competitions in the UK The federations said in a joint statement. Earlier, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that the head of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malago, and the country's prime minister, Mario Draghi, opposed the admission of Russian tennis players to participate in the Masters series tournament in Rome, which will be held from 9 until May 15. Russian and Belarusian tennis players are allowed to participate in ATP and WTA tournaments in a neutral status in all countries except the UK.
