As sanctions continue to impact the life of everyday Russians, further restrictions have arrived from an unlikely corner: the organization behind the professional Wimbledon tennis tournament.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which runs Wimbledon, has moved to ban Russian and Belarusian players from its tournament, calling this a method to weaken the Russian regime and deny the Kremlin any undue influence. This supercedes the current policy, which allows athletes from those countries to play so long as they do not display national flags.
On the other hand, the Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP, has denounced the move, saying that it constitutes "discrimination based on nationality." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also spoke out against the move, saying, "Once again they simply turn athletes into hostages to political prejudice, political intrigues."
This is not the first sport-related crackdown that has hurt Russian athletes: Putin himself lost his martial arts accolades in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
Further, this move is in spite of the courageous acts of Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev, who publicly called for peace at the very start of the conflict.
Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.
Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602
802-223-4955
