Russian and Belarusian tennis players not allowed to enter the tournament in Prague?
- Thread starter Martin Hare
- Start date
JJGUY
Hall of Fame
Where is the source of that claim? So far WTA has not cancelled any, Iga just won Poland and Prague is moving forward as planned!
JJGUY
Hall of Fame
Remember what? Wimbledon itself banned the players, that's why it was stripped off the points by WTA/ATP. Both Prague and Warsaw events listed Russian players on their schedule but their governments refused the entry. I don't know what you are trying to ask WTA to punish here, Czech and Poland government???
sortof
Semi-Pro
It really is pretty simple - when WTA/ATP players are not allowed to participate in a tournament for reasons the WTA/ATP does not accept there won´t be a WTA/ATP-endorsed tornament - as seen in Wimbledon 2022. This is not about punishment, this is about the WTA/ATP statutes. It doesn´t matter whether the state (e.g. Poland) is causing the conflict with the statutes or the organizers themselves. The issues in Poland and Czech came up on short notice, that´s why in these cases the WTA did not react immediately. If the Polish/Czech policies remain unchanged there won´t be WTA (or ATP) tournaments in these countries anymore.
JJGUY
Hall of Fame
Tell that to Novak Djokovic, he was forced out of AO and USO!
sortof
Semi-Pro
E.g. quotes from the ATP in response to the Wimbledon 2022 ban of Russian and Belarusian players:
“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour. "
“The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system. It is also inconsistent with our Rankings agreement."
Similar statements came from the WTA and ITF.
This has all been discussed just one year ago. Nothing has changed since then. I wonder why people with an interest in professional tennis are still unaware of this very clear and unambigous position taken by the WTA/ATP/ITF.
“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour. "
“The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system. It is also inconsistent with our Rankings agreement."
Similar statements came from the WTA and ITF.
This has all been discussed just one year ago. Nothing has changed since then. I wonder why people with an interest in professional tennis are still unaware of this very clear and unambigous position taken by the WTA/ATP/ITF.
spystud
Talk Tennis Guru
This exact topic has over 100 posts in the other forum.
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
Russian and Belarusian players banned from next week's WTA event in Prague
PRAGUE (AP) — Russian and Belarusian players will not be allowed to participate in next week's Prague Open, the organizers of the women's tennis event said Friday. The announcement came a day after police prevented a Russian player from entering the country, organizers said. Miroslav Malý, the...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
JJGUY
Hall of Fame
ATP/WTA are for profit sports leagues, when the players earned their spots or were offered the spots to play at their sanctioned events, the players were expected to show up to play, however APT/WTA has no obligation to guarantee the players participation, it's the players' responsibility to show up on court, not ATP or WTA. When a player faced the hurdles like COVID restrictions or political reasons, ATP/WTA can issue whatever statement they want or express their outrage or disappointment, but it's still the players' own responsibility to fight for their rights. And that's exactly what happened to Novak Djokovic, he sued Australia government by himself, ATP didn't sue, Australian Open didn't sue, it would be nice if they had sued but really they had no obligation there. It's not much different from the employment, every morning you need to go to work, if someone stopped you or something happened and you were late, you need to go after the party who caused you the trouble, it's strictly between you and the other party, your employer could voice their support and rally behind you, but if they choose not to get involved, there is nothing wrong here.
Honza
Semi-Pro
Well, these are no statutes but just something they said to the press right?
Oh and btw, since Wimbledon 22 was no real tournament with no ranking points, its - 1 slam for Djokovic
That is the most shameful decision. At the time of war, ATP has taken the Russian side. “ principles and integrity “ at full display here.
What else to expect from a shadowy group who appointed themselves to sell imaginary points to players and tournaments. Note: they are not even the organizers. Each tournament has its own people who organize it. They do not even represent the players, as there are no players among them. Just marketing directors.
Well, Wimbledon existed for ~100 years before the ATP, and will exist long after they are gone. So will tournaments in Warsaw and Prague.
JJGUY
Hall of Fame
1. Wimbledon is overseen by ITF, not ATP.
2. ATP has the absolute authority on ATP ranking points, it's their league, they set the rule, if you don't like it, play ITF , it you want to play ATP, you have to listen to them and they already told you there was no points from Wimbledon, end of discussion!
3. older=/wiser
sortof
Semi-Pro
Think about it, what they have said to the press might be based on their statutes, right? Anyhow, here is a a quote directly from the "WTA Rulebook":
"Entry into Tournaments shall be open to all eligible women tennis players
based on merit and without discrimination, subject only to the conditions
in the WTA By-Laws and these Rules, including but not limited to the Age
Eligibility Rules and Gender Participation Policy".
The ITF has even an Ethics commission and their investigators must "respect human rights and dignity, not discriminate on grounds of race, colour, sex, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, disability, or any other unlawful ground, and not commit any form of harassment or abuse of any person, whether physical, professional, sexual, psychological or otherwise..."
Thus, as quoted before, they told the press: "The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour."
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Honza
Semi-Pro
I see your point (thx for looking through the rulebook), but the tournaments were always open, the countries were not.
The WTA/ATP has no handle against governments.
And for countries like the Czech Repulic, which have a bad history with Russia, standpoint against russian invasion on ukraine is more important, than a "stupid" 250 WTA tournament.
The WTA/ATP has no handle against governments.
And for countries like the Czech Repulic, which have a bad history with Russia, standpoint against russian invasion on ukraine is more important, than a "stupid" 250 WTA tournament.
Mark Anderson
Semi-Pro
Why not? Just make them disavow Putin.
We all like fairness. I agree with you because the American players disavowed Bush and Obama during their illegal invasions in the middle east. Oh wait - that didn't happen did it?
WYK
Hall of Fame
Very common throughout Europe. Most major European sports committees are barring Russian and Belarusian athletes, and have been for over a year now.
Just a couple of examples:
15th March 2023 11:30
European Athletics Council met in Lausanne on Wednesday (15), with preparations for the 2023 European Athletics Congress next month the principle items on the agenda, and used the occasion to reaffirm European Athletics' current position that athletes from Russia and Belarus should remain banned from European Athletics events and activities until the war in Ukraine comes to an end.
European Championships Munich 2022 - EC2022 Board Chair Libor Varhaník said, ‘’The Board agreed at its meeting in Munich on Tuesday 15 March that this would mean that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will not take part in the multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022.
‘We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and we reiterate that we all stand in solidarity with Ukraine and its people. We believe it is inconceivable to have Russian and Belarusian teams participate in our event.’’
Mark Anderson
Semi-Pro
They don't like Belarusian's in Oklahoma.