Sabalenka on excluding the Russians from Wimbledon: “useless”

Adelaide (AFP)
Belarusian Arina Sabalenka, ranked fifth in the world, said that the decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon last year, against the background of the invasion of Ukraine, was useless, and that she “hoped” to change it by the new year.
Sabalenka, in an interview with the newspaper “Melbourne Edge” on the sidelines of the Adelaide Australian Championships, preparatory to the Australian Open, expressed her sadness, saying: “I am disappointed that sport is involved in politics in one way or another. We are athletes who play their sport. That’s it. We do not work in political affairs.
The 24-year-old added: “If we can all do something, we will do it. But we have no control” over matters, stressing, “We were prevented from participating in Wimbledon, and what has changed? Nothing, keep waging this (war), and that’s the sad thing about this situation.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the British Tennis Association came under pressure from the government to impose a ban on the participation of Russian and Belarusian players, which prevented Sabalenka and other male and female players from participating in the Wimbledon competitions.
In a reaction against the decision, the Association of Professional Players (ATB) and the Professional Players Association (WTA) decided to suspend the distribution of points in the world rankings for the participants in the last edition of Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament.
However, the British Football Association has not yet announced whether the ban will continue into 2023.
“Nobody supports war,” Sabalenka, who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2021, said, hoping to be able to compete again on British grass this year to “feel again the wonderful atmosphere.”