Wimbledon Reverses Ban, Will Let Russian And Belarusian Players Compete

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After banning Russian and Belarusian players from the Wimbledon Championship last year, the All England Club announced Friday it will officially allow these athletes to play this year as long as they remain “neutral” about the war in Ukraine.

Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second internationally for women’s tennis, is from Belarus.

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Key Facts

To play at the world’s oldest tennis tournament, athletes from the two countries—including women’s No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, and men’s No. 4 Daniil Medvedev of Russia—will be required to sign neutrality agreements prohibiting them from expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Although they won’t be forced to explicitly criticize their governments, they are forbidden from receiving funding from the Russian or Belarusian state or being sponsored by government-funded organizations in relation to Wimbledon.

Key Background

Wimbledon announced its ban on Russian and Belarusian players in April 2022, exactly two months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Its choice to lift it follows the lead of several other sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee, which on Tuesday recommended individual athletes from the two countries be allowed to compete in the upcoming 2024 Olympics under a neutral status.

Contra

The tennis players’ associations—the men’s ATP Tour and Women’s Tennis Association—protested the Wimbledon ban by withholding ranking points from last year’s event and imposing a $2 million fine on the tennis grand slam.

Big Number

$48,948,585. That’s how much the prize money for Wimbledon was in 2022. It marked the tournament’s largest-ever winnings offering, up more than 15% from 2021, according to the organization.

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