LONDON
\nBritish tennis chiefs said Wednesday they were \u201cdisappointed\u201d at being fined $1 million by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for banning Russian and Belarusian players from their events.
\nFollowing Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) came under pressure from the British government to impose a ban.
\nRussian and Belarusian players were eventually barred from all five ATP tournaments staged by the LTA, including the longstanding Queen\u2019s Club event in London.
\nThe All England Club, which organises Wimbledon, also banned them from competing at this year\u2019s edition of tennis\u2019 oldest Slam.
\nBoth the ATP and the Women\u2019s Tennis Association stripped Wimbledon of its ranking points in protest at a ban labelled \u201ccrazy\u201d by 21-time Grand Slam title winner Novak Djokovic.
\nThe WTA had also previously fined British tennis authorities a total of $1 million, split between a $750,000 punishment for the LTA and a $250,000 penalty for the All England Club.
\nIt is also understood the LTA has been threatened with expulsion from the ATP Tour if it repeats the ban.
\nThe LTA, responding Wednesday to the latest sanction, accused the ATP of a \u201clack of empathy\u201d over the situation in Ukraine, saying in a statement: \u201cThe LTA is deeply disappointed with this outcome.
\n\u201cThe ATP, in its finding, has shown no recognition of the exceptional circumstances created by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, or the international sporting community and UK Government\u2019s response to that invasion.
\n\u201cThe ATP appear to regard this matter as a straightforward breach of their rules — with a surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine, and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced.\u201d
\nThe statement added: \u201cWe will carefully consider our response and we await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA\u2019s decision and sanction.\u201d
\nThe ATP insisted later Wednesday they had no intention of changing course.
\n\u201cWe stand by our original position on this matter, that unilateral decision-making by members of the ATP Tour threatens our ability to operate as a global sport,\u201d a spokesman told AFP.
\n\u201cWe believe that the measures taken protect the long-term future of our game and its commitment to merit-based participation, without discrimination, for individual athletes.\u201d
\nEarlier, the ATP received support from International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, who criticised the British government for politicising the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
\n\u201cGovernments should not decide on political grounds who is participating in which sports events,\u201d said Bach following an IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne.
\n\u201cThe qualification for sports events must be on sporting merits and not on political interference.\u201d
\nBach also accused the British government, and others, of going against the Olympic Charter — guarantor of the IOC\u2019s political neutrality.
\n\u201cTo take a decision, a political decision, on a sports competition is clearly not in line with these resolutions and with these commitments and is not in line with the mission of international sports,\u201d he said.
\nMichelle Donelan, the British government\u2019s Culture Secretary, urged the ATP and WTA to reconsider their punishments.
\n\u201cWe are clear that sport cannot be used to legitimise this deadly invasion, and that athletes representing the Russian or Belarusian states should be banned from competing in other countries,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cDespite widespread condemnation, the international tennis tours are determined to be outcasts in this, with investment in the growth of our domestic game hampered as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON British tennis chiefs said Wednesday they were \u201cdisappointed\u201d at being fined $1 million by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for banning Russian and Belarusian players from their events. Following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) came under pressure from the British government to impose a ban. Russian and Belarusian players […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-300179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n