The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has issued a statement regarding participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games. Sports correspondent on whether it is a “green light” for a trip to Paris.
The statement, which appeared on the media on Wednesday evening, reads as follows: “The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will allow qualified and eligible athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to compete in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. «The International Tennis Federation confirms that tennis players from these countries will be able to compete in Olympic and Paralympic competitions in an individual and neutral capacity, provided they comply with the principles established by the IOC and IPC. Neutral athletes will be required to meet the selection and eligibility requirements set out in the relevant ITF regulations.»
Like many other documents issued by international sports structures, this message is interpreted unambiguously only at first glance. Yes, it talks about the admission of Russian and Belarusian tennis players to the Olympics, and the selection of a certain number of those and others will pass. In singles, the maximum quota is four people per country, and the rankings qualify 56 people for the Games. For men, for example, according to this criterion, Russians Daniil Medvedev, Andrei Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Roman Safiullin will receive trips to Paris right now. For women — Daria Kasatkina, Lyudmila Samsonova, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Veronika Kudermetova.
But in the release, for example, there is no answer to this question — does the admission of Russian and Belarusian tennis players to the Olympics apply only to singles, or to doubles and mixed too? Until the ITF gives a specific clarification on this issue, all that remains is to look in the documents for indirect clues that may lead to this answer. For example, this: in the selection regulations for the Olympic Games, which are, of course, drawn up in English, the pair is called the word Team — that is, a team. And, as you know, Russian and Belarusian players are excluded from participating in team tournaments. However, this logical chain is only an assumption.
The second no less important question is how to understand the phrase “those entitled to participate” (in the original — eligible) in the application? The same release provides references to the regulations, and there, for example, it states that a candidate for participation in the Olympic Games must be included in the Davis Cup (men's) or Billie Jean King Cup (women's) team twice during the Olympic cycle. and one of these nominations must necessarily relate to the 2023 or 2024 season.
However, here we still want to hope that the ITF is unlikely in this case to behave like the postman Pechkin, who brought the parcel — that is, he allowed Russians and Belarusians to participate in the Olympics, but did not give it back, since “there are no documents.” Yes, not a single Russian or Belarusian tennis player falls under the latter criterion, since the national teams have been suspended from participation in team competitions by the same ITF since March 2022. But it would be extremely strange if the ITF, with one hand lighting the green light for the Russians and Belarusians on the way to Paris, lowered the barrier in front of them with the other. This does not correspond to the entire logic of the actions of the ITF, which, together with professional tours, has been perhaps the most loyal international sports organization to athletes from our two countries over the past two years. Athletes were not collectively suspended from tournaments, but those who did so individually — for example, Wimbledon in 2022 — were harshly put in place.
So there is hardly any need to worry about being ineligible due to failure to meet the criteria for participation in matches for the national team. Moreover, the same regulations contain a number of exceptions to this rule, and the icing on the cake is the phrase “The ITF Olympic Commission will consider all relevant circumstances, not limited to this list.” Finally, even in the release on the admission of Russian and Belarusian tennis players to the Olympics it is said: “The position of the ITF is consistent with the existing international policy in tennis, which was adopted in March 2022.” And according to it, as you know, there are no restrictions on the participation of Russians and Belarusians in tournaments.
However, given the difficult situation in general, it is better to wait with the joyful anticipation of worrying about Russian players at the Olympics. Firstly, the country’s sports leadership has not yet formed a position on participation in the Games. Of course, professional tennis players are athletes who are extremely independent from the Russian sports system, and most of them live abroad, so the resolution of our sports authorities is hardly a decree for them. But it’s also not worth ruling out that tennis players will decide not to go to the Olympic Games as a sign of solidarity with many unfairly excluded athletes. And secondly, we must not forget the phrase “the law is that the drawbar: wherever you turn, that’s where it comes out.” Just like the IOC criteria for admitting Russians and Belarusians to the Olympics, the ITF statement is drawn up in such a way as to comply with this saying as much as possible.