Russian players to be barred from Wimbledon

Russian players won’t be permitted to contend at Wimbledon this year because of Moscow’s intrusion of Ukraine, as per a report in sports industry news site Sportico on Tuesday.

Recently, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which coordinates the grasscourt Grand Slam, said it was in chats with the British government on the participation of players from Russia and Belarus.

The coordinators said it intended to declare a choice in mid-Mayahead of the entry deadline for the June 27-July 10 competition.

The AELTC didn’t quickly answer demand for input on the report.

A restriction on Russian players would forestall world number two Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, positioned eighth, from contending in the men’s draw. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is fifteenth in the women’s rankings.

The report said it was muddled whether players from Belarus would likewise be restricted. Belarus is a key organizing region for the attack, which Russia calls a “special operation”.

British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said last month that he wouldn’t be alright with a “Russian athlete flying the Russian flag” and winning Wimbledon in London.