Wimbledon 2022: Organizers feared Russian participation would fuel a 'propaganda machine'

By George Ramsay, CNN

Updated 1514 GMT (2314 HKT) April 26, 2022

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Wimbledon (CNN)Banning Russian and Belarusian tennis players from this year's Wimbledon tournament in light of the war in Ukraine is not discriminatory, say organizers of the grand slam tournament.

The tournament's chairman Ian Hewitt said Russia's invasion of Ukraine had placed organizers in «an extreme and exceptional situation,» adding that the decision to implement a player ban had been made in line with UK government directives. Those directives meant that players from Russia and Belarus would not be able play at the tournament, which begins on June 27, based on their rankings position alone, but would need to agree to a written declaration against the war in Ukraine.