MOSCOW, May 21 The International Tennis Federation (ITF) will not award ratings points at Wimbledon in 2022 in competitions among juniors and wheelchair paratennis players. Earlier, due to the refusal of the organizers to allow Russian and Belarusian players, the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) made the same decision at the Wimbledon tournament.
"Tournament organizers are not permitted to unilaterally set entry criteria that are inconsistent with published ITF criteria. Therefore, the ITF has the right to withdraw ranking points. The ban on Russians and Belarusians from participating in Wimbledon jeopardizes the integrity of international competition and the ranking system, as suspended players have no alternative opportunities to compete for ranking points,» the statement said.
The International Tennis Federation stressed that the competition is not should be banned for Russians and Belarusians. «This difficult decision was taken as a defensive measure supporting the principle of open participation in international competitions. The position of the ITF remains that Russian and Belarusian athletes have the right to participate in them in a neutral status», — noted in the ITF. In April, the organizers of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season, due to the situation in Ukraine, refused to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete. In addition, they were banned from playing at grass tournaments in the UK under the auspices of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). ATP has criticized the decision of the organizers of Wimbledon and LTA. Leading tennis players, including world number one Serb Novak Djokovic and ex-world number one Brit Andy Murray, spoke in a similar way.