Wimbledon 2022: Russian and Belarusian players banned from tennis tournament

This is Daniil Medvedev he's the second best male tennis player in the world and he won't be playing ion Wimbledon 2022 because of the ban

Russian and Belarusian players have been banned from Wimbledon 2022.

Players from Russia and Belarus are also banned from playing any of the UK grass tournaments.

The bans have been put in place because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus' support for it.

Men's world number two player, Daniil Medvedev from Russia, and women's world number four player, Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, are the highest-ranked players to be affected by the ban.

Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus is the women's world number four.

All England Lawn Tennis Club which runs Wimbledon released a statement saying: "In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players.

"It is, therefore, our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon."

'Very disappointed'

Novak Djokovic is against the ban

However, the decision to impose a ban on Russian and Belarusian players has not been supported by everyone.

The Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP have said the decision could "set a damaging precedent for the game", while the women's body, the WTA, said it was "very disappointed".

Men's world number one player, Novak Djokovic said: "The players, the tennis players, the athletes have nothing to do with war. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good."

'Speak up'

This is Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina she supports the ban

Others however do support the ban. Ukrainian world number 25 Elina Svitolina made a statement on social media.

In it, she wrote: "In times of crisis, silence means agreeing with what is happening. There comes a time when silence is betrayal, and that time is now."

But later said that Russian and Belarusian players who speak out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine "should be allowed" to compete.

"If players don't speak out against the Russian government then it is the right thing to ban them.

"We just want them to speak up, if they are with us and the rest of the world or the Russian government. This is for me the main point."

Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina says she doesn't want Russian players banned completely.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which runs tennis in the UK, supports the ban, saying: "important to do all it can to support Ukraine at this time".

The UK's sports minister Nigel Huddleston said he agrees and added: "The UK has taken a leading role internationally to make clear President Putin must not be able to use sport to legitimise Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

"Whilst the withdrawal of individual athletes is a complex issue that will divide opinion, there is a bigger cause at stake."

Russian Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Pskov says the ban is unacceptable. "Given that Russia is a strong tennis country and our athletes are among those at the top of the world rankings, the tournament itself would suffer because of this ban," he said.

"It is unacceptable to make the athletes once again hostages of certain political prejudice, intrigues and hostile actions towards our country."

The ban is only for players, so Russian and Belarusian coaches, umpires and physiotherapists can all still be involved in the tournament.