International News Bunch of spineless tossers!

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Authorities for olympics and world + european football - and eurovision- temporarily ban Russia (and Belarus) from taking part in their competitions .....but tennis authorities dont.. .. it is an odd one
 
What are you suggesting?
Confused!
Authorities for olympics and world + european football - and eurovision- temporarily ban Russia (and Belarus) from taking part in their competitions .....but tennis authorities dont.. .. it is an odd one

Both of the organisations that award points to individual players, which make up the world rankings have stipulated that, because Wimbledon has banned Russian and Belarussian players from participating, no points will be awarded at Wimbledon. The basic premise is that it would be unfair on individual players if they were unable to compete because of their nationality! In other words, nobody gets any points and that is deemed a fair solution. Madness and, as I said, a display of spineless nature by the ATP and the WTA. Perhaps the Formula One authorities should not award points to individual drivers as some drivers cannot compete?
 
Authorities for olympics and world + european football - and eurovision- temporarily ban Russia (and Belarus) from taking part in their competitions .....but tennis authorities dont.. .. it is an odd one

Honestly, I kind of think I see where the ATP/WTA is coming from here.

The Olympics/World Cup/Eurovision/Olympics are all events where the representatives are there to represent their country. So it is perfectly reasonable to ban competitors from doing so in response to Russia's barbaric invasion.

And the ATP/WTA have done the same - they've banned Russian & Belarus from the Davis Cup, and they've cancelled all tournaments that were going to be played there.

But individuals don't represent their countries in your average tournament - they're there for themselves, playing for themselves (and the tennis authorities have said as much - barring players from playing under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus). Most of the top Russian players have taken a public anti-war stance (for example, this was a quote from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova back in March - "I am confused and do not know how to help in this situation. I'm just an athlete who plays tennis. I am not a politician, not a public figure, I have no experience in this. I can only publicly disagree with these decisions taken and openly talk about it. Stop the violence, stop the war"

The British government have placed sanctions on Russia, and identified individuals that they believe are close to the regime and complicit in Putin's war for similar sanctions. But they haven't banned Russians from working in the UK - if you have, or can get a visa, you can still work as a Russian plumber or a lawyer or an uber driver or whatever. Why not a tennis player?

It just looks to me as if Wimbledon have overstepped here.

If Boris & co. decided to invade Ireland tomorrow, I'd be pretty pissed off if I got banned from my US job because the country of my birth was now run by a deranged psychopath.......
 
Honestly, I kind of think I see where the ATP/WTA is coming from here.

The Olympics/World Cup/Eurovision/Olympics are all events where the representatives are there to represent their country. So it is perfectly reasonable to ban competitors from doing so in response to Russia's barbaric invasion.

And the ATP/WTA have done the same - they've banned Russian & Belarus from the Davis Cup, and they've cancelled all tournaments that were going to be played there.

But individuals don't represent their countries in your average tournament - they're there for themselves, playing for themselves (and the tennis authorities have said as much - barring players from playing under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus). Most of the top Russian players have taken a public anti-war stance (for example, this was a quote from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova back in March - "I am confused and do not know how to help in this situation. I'm just an athlete who plays tennis. I am not a politician, not a public figure, I have no experience in this. I can only publicly disagree with these decisions taken and openly talk about it. Stop the violence, stop the war"

The British government have placed sanctions on Russia, and identified individuals that they believe are close to the regime and complicit in Putin's war for similar sanctions. But they haven't banned Russians from working in the UK - if you have, or can get a visa, you can still work as a Russian plumber or a lawyer or an uber driver or whatever. Why not a tennis player?

It just looks to me as if Wimbledon have overstepped here.

If Boris & co. decided to invade Ireland tomorrow, I'd be pretty pissed off if I got banned from my US job because the country of my birth was now run by a deranged psychopath.......
Fair comment
 
Honestly, I kind of think I see where the ATP/WTA is coming from here.

The Olympics/World Cup/Eurovision/Olympics are all events where the representatives are there to represent their country. So it is perfectly reasonable to ban competitors from doing so in response to Russia's barbaric invasion.

And the ATP/WTA have done the same - they've banned Russian & Belarus from the Davis Cup, and they've cancelled all tournaments that were going to be played there.

But individuals don't represent their countries in your average tournament - they're there for themselves, playing for themselves (and the tennis authorities have said as much - barring players from playing under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus). Most of the top Russian players have taken a public anti-war stance (for example, this was a quote from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova back in March - "I am confused and do not know how to help in this situation. I'm just an athlete who plays tennis. I am not a politician, not a public figure, I have no experience in this. I can only publicly disagree with these decisions taken and openly talk about it. Stop the violence, stop the war"

The British government have placed sanctions on Russia, and identified individuals that they believe are close to the regime and complicit in Putin's war for similar sanctions. But they haven't banned Russians from working in the UK - if you have, or can get a visa, you can still work as a Russian plumber or a lawyer or an uber driver or whatever. Why not a tennis player?

It just looks to me as if Wimbledon have overstepped here.

If Boris & co. decided to invade Ireland tomorrow, I'd be pretty pissed off if I got banned from my US job because the country of my birth was now run by a deranged psychopath.......

It’s also not like the prize money is going back into the Russian system either.

Pretty much any top ranked Russian/Belorussian player is based in Monaco or the USA. Even if you are based in Russia, you’re going to find it pretty difficult to get around and out to tournaments.

I’m with the ATP on this. Wimbledon’s position has been overzealous against the individual. Daniil Medvedev plays for himself and only for Russia in Davis Cup. By all means strip Russia of holding any tournaments and entering team tennis tournaments but not the individuals from competing.
 
If Boris & co. decided to invade Ireland tomorrow, I'd be pretty pissed off if I got banned from my US job because the country of my birth was now run by a deranged psychopath.......
It isn't?
 
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