Rafael Nadal hits out at Wimbledon ban on Russian tennis players over Ukraine war

Rafael Nadal has slammed the ‘unfair’ ban on Russian and Belarussian tennis at this year’s Wimbledon tournament which was announced by the Lawn Tennis Association last month.

The LTA declared in April that it would be following the precedent set by other organisation including FIFA, UEFA, and Eurovision by banning Russians from competing in high profile international events, in order to render the Russian state a sporting and cultural outcast following president Vladimir Putin’s devastating invasion of Ukraine.

The United Nations estimates that almost five million people have fled Ukraine since the assault began across land, air, and sea in late February, while cities including Mariupol, Kharkiv and Kyiv have been decimated by shelling. Belarussian players have also been banned due to their nation’s practical support for the invasion.

A statement from the All England Club released at the time read: ‘Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible.’

Nadal, however, believes that the war has nothing to do with the players who will not be allowed to take part, including Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Aryna Sabalenka.

‘I think it’s very unfair [on] my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues,’ the Spaniard said. ‘It’s not their fault what’s happening in this moment with the war. At the end of the day, what happens in our game, it doesn’t have any importance when we can see so many people dying and suffering and seeing the bad situation they are having in Ukraine.’

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