“Finally the ATP grew some b***s”- Twitter divided over ATP decision to strip ranking points from Wimbledon
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Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev
The ATP men’s professional tennis tour will not award ranking points for Wimbledon this year because of the All England Club’s ban on players from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine. The ATP made its decision late Friday night, two days before the French Open commences and a little more than a month before Wimbledon begins on June 27.
The All England Club announced in April that Russians and Belarusians will not be allowed to compete in the Grand Slam grass-court championship. Since Russia began assaulting Ukraine in February, Russian athletes have been barred from competing in a variety of sports, including soccer’s World Cup qualification playoffs and Belarus has supported Russia’s invasion.
Also Read: BREAKING: ATP strips Wimbledon of ranking points for ‘discriminating players based on nationality’
“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our tour,” the ATP said in a statement. “The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the U.K. this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system.”
Saying it made this move “with great regret and reluctance,” it added: “Our rules and agreements exist in order to protect the rights of players as a whole. Unilateral decisions of this nature, if unaddressed, set a damaging precedent for the rest of the tour. Discrimination by individual tournaments is simply not viable on a tour that operates in more than 30 countries.”
Fans on Twitter show mixed reactions to ATP’s decision
Some fans on Twitter hailed ATP for its brave decision whilst others were not so fond of it.
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)