Nearly one year following their decision to ban Belarusian and Russian players from competing at Wimbledon in 2022, the All England Club has reversed course.
“Our current intention is to accept entries from Russian and Belarusian players subject to them competing as ‘neutral’ athletes and complying with appropriate conditions,” the Club said in a statement on Friday. “These will prohibit expressions of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in various forms and prohibit entry by players receiving funding from the Russian and/or Belarusian states (including sponsorship from companies operated or controlled by the states) in relation to their participation in The Championships.”
The announcement has already drawn both backlash and support on social media, from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and nine-time Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova, respectively.
In a statement, All England Club chairman Ian Hewitt said that it was an “incredibly difficult decision” that was “not taken lightly or without a great deal of consideration for those who will be impacted.”
Among the notable men and women who will now be eligible to compete again are Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, and Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. Medvedev and Rublev are No. 5 and No. 7 in the men’s tennis rankings, while Sabalenka is second on the women’s side.
According to an Associated Press report, other tournaments have been allowing Belarusian and Russian players to compete as neutral athletes, with their nationalities not listed in the brackets, official results or graphics on television.
The 2023 Wimbledon tournament is scheduled to begin on July 3, with the women’s final slated for July 15 and the men’s final set for July 16.
