Special rules for Russian and Belarusian tennis players will also apply at Wimbledon.
Source: Profimedia
Russian and Belarusian tennis players can participate in Wimbledon this year, but special rules will apply to them. Unlike last season, when the ban was valid, which later caused Novak Djokovic to not get 2,000 points for winning the tournament, now they managed to find a common language. However, everyone will have to be very careful, even the members of their teams.
According to the information provided by the BBC, all of them will have to follow certain rules. “They must not express support for the invasion of Ukraine, nor support for the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. They must not wear or be seen with anything containing an image, symbol, flag, emblem or anything that could be understood as support for war or support for the Russian or non-Russian regime. Players must also not receive money from the state or companies controlled by sanctioned individuals,” the text reads.
It is also stated that they were “asked to prove that they have terminated any cooperation if they had any similar agreements with those companies.” All this will have to be respected for the duration of the tournament. The reason for the additional tightening of the rules was the Russian tennis player Veronika Kudermetova, who is sponsored by the oil company “Tatneft”, which is under the sanctions of the European Union. “I didn’t have a problem in Madrid, I know I’m not allowed to do that at Wimbledon, if I play there I’ll have to remove any markings of that kind from my gear“, said Kudermetova.
Another item that is prohibited is wearing the jerseys of Russian or Belarusian clubs, especially those associated with the military such as CSKA Moscow. That ban was introduced because of Anastasija Potapova, who came to Indian Wells for the match with Jesika Pegula wearing a Spartak Moscow jersey. The same rules as for the players will apply to the fans and they are prohibited from bringing any flags and symbols related to Russia and Belarus inside the Wimbledon complex.