Russian and Belarusian players banned from competing at Wimbledon

Russian and Belarusian players will not be allowed to compete at this year’s Wimbledon with tournament organisers imposing a ban due to the conflict in Ukraine.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) made the announcement on Wednesday in a move that will mean men's world No 2 Daniil Medvedev and women's No 4 Aryna Sabalenka cannot take part in the UK Grand Slam.

“We recognise that this is hard on the individuals affected, and it is with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime,” Ian Hewitt, chairman of the AELTC said in a statement.

“But given the high profile environment of The Championships the importance of not allowing sport to be used to promote the Russian regime and our broader concerns for public and player [including family] safety, we do not believe it is viable to proceed on any other basis.”

Players from the two countries have so far been permitted to continue taking part on the tennis tour but under a neutral flag and with no anthem played.

It was believed this would extend to the three remaining Grand Slam events - the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open - though the International Tennis Federation (ITF) had banned both countries' teams from the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka is ranked No 4 in the world. AFP

The ban means Medvedev and world No 8 Andrey Rublev will not be competing at the All England Club. US Open champion Medvedev reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year

Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is 15th in the women's rankings while Sabalenka of Belarus was a beaten semi-finalist in London last year. Belarus' Victoria Azarenka – a two-time Australian Open champion – will also miss out.

Players from the two