Belarus FA: Wimbledon ban leads to 'hatred and intolerance'
The Belarusian tennis association has sharply criticized the exclusion of its professionals from the Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon.
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Apr 25, 2022, 03:46 pm
The decision "leads to hate and intolerance," said the BTF association on Thursday and threatened legal action. On Wednesday, the organizers in London excluded professionals from Russia and Belarus from this year's Wimbledon tournament because of the Ukraine war.
"The Tennis Union of Belarus categorically condemns the decision. Such destructive steps do not help in any way to resolve the conflict, but only lead to hatred and intolerance," it said in a statement.
The pros from Belarus suffering from the loss include last year's semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka and former world number one Viktoria Azarenka.
The decision from England was widely criticized, including by Novak Djokovic, Martina Navratilova and Michael Stich . Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev were also critical.