THE decision to ban Russian and Belarusian tennis players from competing at Wimbledon is a form of discrimination, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said.

The association in a statement yesterday said it was disappointed with the decision and “will be evaluating its next steps and what actions may be taken regarding these decisions,” Russian news agency (TASS) reported.

“We are very disappointed in today’s announcement by the AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis Club) and the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) to ban individual athletes who are from Russia and Belarus from competing in the upcoming UK grass court events,” the statement read.

Earlier yesterday, Wimbledon organisers ruled to bar Russian and Belarusian tennis players from the tournament over the crisis in Ukraine.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the world governing body for men’s tennis, has also criticised the decision, saying it was unfair.

WTA said a fundamental principal of the association is that individual athletes may participate in professional tennis events based on merit and without any form of discrimination.

“That principle is expressly set forth in our rules and has been agreed to by both AELTC and LTA. Prohibitions against discrimination are also clearly expressed in their own rules and the Grand Slam rules,” it added.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations and also cancelled all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in these countries.

On March 14, the ITF also confirmed its ban on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

The WTA and ATP allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but under a neutral status.

The 2022 Wimbledon is scheduled to run between June 27 and July 10. – Bernama, April 21, 2022.