Wimbledon has allowed Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutral athletes after banning them last year following invasion of Ukraine; All England Club will provide free accommodation for Ukrainian players during grass-court season, with 1,000 refugees welcomed to the tournament
Tuesday 25 April 2023 14:19, UK
Wimbledon will donate over half a million pounds to relief efforts in Ukraine, the All England Club announced on Tuesday.
One pound for each ticket sold will go towards Ukraine, while the All England Club will give free accommodation to Ukrainian players during the grass-court season and access to practice courts, as well as welcome 1,000 Ukrainian refugees to the tournament.
The news comes after Wimbledon announced it would allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete at this year's event - held between July 3 and July 16 - as neutral athletes having banned them last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Lawn Tennis Association was hit with a fine for banning Russian and Belarusian players in 2022, while world ranking points were removed from the Grand Slam.
Speaking on Tuesday, All England Lawn Tennis Club chairman Ian Hewitt said of the decision to permit Russian and Belarusian players: "It was a difficult and challenging decision which was made with the full support of our UK Government and the international stakeholder bodies in tennis.
"I personally say that I found this probably the most difficult decision during my chairmanship. [It] does not lessen in any way our total condemnation of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
"We will again work with Merton and Wandsworth Councils and the British Red Cross to invite 1,000 Ukrainian refugees to join us for a day at Wimbledon, including tickets, food and drink and transport."
This year's women's Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka, and fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka are among the players now eligible to play at Wimbledon.
That list also includes Russian men's players Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.
In order to compete, players must sign declarations that they will not demonstrate any backing Russian and Belarusian regimes nor receive funding from those those states.
Chief executive Sally Bolton said: "We listened very much to the feedback from last year. And that feedback from the (Russian and Belarusian) athletes was that they wanted the choice to be able to sign the declaration.
"We've spent a significant amount of time engaging with those players to ensure that they fully understand what they're signing up to. And, at this point, we have a number of players who are in the process of signing them or have signed."
Speaking earlier this month to the Tennis Majors website, Andy Murray said Wimbledon must focus on the Ukraine war.
The two-time Wimbledon champion said: "What's really important is to continue to talk about what's happening in Ukraine now, not focusing on a few tennis players and a few athletes who may or may not be able to play major sporting events.
"It's a difficult decision for Wimbledon. The rest of sport had gone in a completely different direction to them, which made it hard. But I don't think this should be so much about that.
"It's distracting a little bit from actually what's taking place. You don't want that to happen. You want the actual issue to be at the forefront of all of these discussions.
"I've seen some of the female [Ukrainian] players have spoken out about how difficult they found it and maybe felt like they could have had more support. You need to understand their perspective as well, and not just the players that weren't allowed to play last year.
"There are Ukrainian players whose families [are affected] and they're going through unbelievably difficult times. That's what's important."
