ATP punishes British tennis association and threatens suspension
The ATP fined the British Tennis Association $1 million for excluding all Russian and Belarusian players from a total of five tournaments. There may even be a ban.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Dec 07, 2022, 06:51 pm
According to the British media, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) had to pay a penalty totaling one million US dollars to the ATP. The reason for this is that the British Tennis Association excluded all Russian and Belarusian players from participating in a total of five tournaments in the spring and summer of this year. The LTA did so more or less at the behest of British policy, which in turn was responding to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Among the tournaments was the possibly nominally most important tennis tournament of the year, the Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon. In a first statement, the LTA is not insightful: "The LTA is deeply disappointed with this outcome. The ATP seems to regard this matter as a direct violation of its rules - with a surprising lack of empathy for the situation in Ukraine and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances faced by the LTA."
The women's players' association, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), had previously also imposed a fine of the same amount on the LTA based on the same facts, against which the LTA subsequently raised an objection. Will this also be the case with the ATP? "We will carefully consider our response and we await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA's decision and sanctions."