Wimbledon 2023 will host Russian and Belarusian tennis players. The decision taken by the organizers was not so well received by the Ukrainian players, from Elina Svitolina to Marta Kostyuk who are increasingly protesting against the WTA, who have contested the decision several times in recent weeks.
The tournament has recently remedied and announced a series of initiatives in favor of the country victim of the conflict. Ian Hewitt, president of the All England Club, illustrated them in a note during the traditional spring press conference.
Hewitt explained: “Many Russian and Belarusian athletes have signed the declarations required to play in this event. We listened to their feedback after last year’s exclusion, they understood perfectly what they were signing.” In the men’s and women’s draws the players will compete without their reference flag, as happens in the other tournaments of the circuit.
Interested athletes must sign an agreement in which they undertake to compete as neutrals, not to make statements of support for the war or the Russian or Belarusian governments, not to receive funds from those two states or from public companies of the two nations.
The board of the All England Club said: “The decision to move from total exclusion to conditional admission came…
