Why Wimbledon’s ban on Russian tennis players is wrong

Wimbledon’s decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s tournament is outrageous and hypocritical (Wimbledon ban Russian and Belarusian players over Ukraine invasion, 20 April).

Did they ban Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe or Pete Sampras during the wars waged by the US government in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan?

Where does this madness stop –is my local club to ban anyone from Russia? What about businesses? The Russian people are no more to blame for this war than the average American for those US government wars – or, dare I say it, the British people for the wanton slaughter of hundreds of sailors on the retreating Belgrano during the Falklands war.

One of the highlights of 2021 for me was attending super Saturday with the finals of the ladies’ singles and doubles. If Wimbledon refuses to reverse this ban, I will, very sadly, be neither attending nor watching this year. Bruce HammLondon

Russian and Belarusian tennis players are private individuals, no more responsible for the Russian government’s illegal invasion of Ukraine than I, as a private UK citizen, was responsible for our government’s illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Many Russian oligarchs are deeply complicit in Vladimir Putin’s corrupt regime and are, like national sports teams, liable to being sanctioned. But the recent action of the All England Lawn Tennis Club smacks of blind populism at best, and racism at worst.Peter NicklinNewcastle upon Tyne

Congratulations to the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association for their principled stand against the intrusion of politics into their sport. As the WTA has said: “Discrimination, and the decision to focus such discrimination against athletes competing