Wimbledon lifts Russian, Belarusian players ban
The 2023 Wimbledon Championship will feature Russian and Belarusian tennis players as neutrals, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) announced on Friday.
"There was a strong and very disappointing reaction from some governing bodies in tennis to the position taken by the All England Club and the LTA [Lawn Tennis Association] last year with consequences which, if continued, would be damaging to the interests of players, fans, The Championships and British tennis," the AELTC said in a written statement, adding it continues to "condemn totally Russia's illegal invasion" of Ukraine.
In 2022, Russian and Belarusian tennis players were banned from Wimbledon, despite previously opting to play as neutrals as per the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) demands, as the British government's response to Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.