“A surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine,” LTA responds to ATP’s decision to impose a $1 million fine for banning Russians from playing in the UK


“A surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine,” LTA responds to ATP’s decision to impose a $1 million fine for banning Russians from playing in the UK

ATP imposed a fine on LTA for banning Russian players like Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev during Wimbledon - FirstSportz

It was a shocking fate for all the Russian and Belarusian players as they were banned from participating in all the tournaments in the grass court season including the Wimbledon Championship. The decision was the consequence due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. LTA claimed that it was quite a disappointing decision from the tennis federation while issuing an official statement after receiving the fine.

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Due to the ban, ATP scrapped all ranking points in Wimbledon which had a major impact on the overall rankings. In the statement released by the body of LTA, they slammed the men’s association for being insensitive and failing to understand the situation. Lawn Tennis Association even stated that the fines will prevent them from hosting any sort of tournaments in the future and from giving opportunities to lower-ranked players.

In response to the fine, the official statement stated that “The LTA is deeply disappointed with this outcome. The ATP, in its finding, has shown no recognition of the exceptional circumstances created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or the international sporting community and the UK Government’s response to that invasion. The ATP appears to regard this matter as a straightforward breach of their rules – with a surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine, and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced.

Adding to the statement, LTA further said that “The financial impact of both this fine and the WTA’s fine will have a material impact on the LTA’s ability to develop and host tennis in this country. We will carefully consider our response and we await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA’s decision and sanction.

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ATP slapped a fine of $1 million on LTA for prohibiting Russian and Belarusian players during the grass-court season

Daniil Medvedev - FirstSportz
Daniil Medvedev – FirstSportz

The men’s tennis association’s body slapped a hefty amount of £822,000 ($1 million). The decision by the ATP came after the WTA imposed a $750,000 penalty in July on account of the same reasons. The imposed fine was about $200k for every tournament staged on the men’s Tour and at the Challenger level over the grass court season which are the Queen’s, Eastbourne, Surbiton, Nottingham, and Ilkley.

Along with the fine, there is a possible threat for the tennis federation in Britain for membership cancellation if they remain firm on their stance. The ban was a first of its kind since the decision was criticized for involving politics and sports. Wimbledon was the first Grand Slam tournament where players faced the consequence of the war.

Due to this extreme decision, players like Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and others were forced to skip the Grand Slam tournament in London. It not only impacted the players’ rankings on the ATP Tour but also the players on the WTA Tour who were also prohibited from participation.

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Also Read: Andrey Rublev’s mother calls her son ‘hero’ and praises his performances on the court despite massive backlash due to the Ukraine war

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