Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic criticized the ban preventing Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the Wimbledon tournament.
While denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during an exchange with reporters Thursday, Djokovic maintained the ban was “crazy” and added that sports should not mix with politics.
NO LOVE: WIMBLEDON BANS RUSSIANS AND BELARUSIANS FROM TOURNAMENT
“I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war. … I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history,” he said, according to Sky Sports. “However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.”
On Wednesday, the All England Club, which organizes the event, announced the ban in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The move marked the first time a Grand Slam tennis event organizer outright banned athletes from the two nations.
The ban cleared top competition in the tournament for Djokovic, as Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is currently ranked No. 2 in men’s tennis. At one point, Medvedev ranked higher than Djokovic in the Association of Tennis Professionals.
When Djokovic was 11 years old, NATO commenced airstrikes on Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, as part of its campaign against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s atrocities against ethnic Albanians. Yugoslavia has since broken up into Serbia and Montenegro.
Wimbledon is one of the four big Grand Slam tennis tournaments, which also include the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S. Open. The event is scheduled to take place from June 27 to July 10.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov decried the ban Wednesday as a political prejudice against its athletes and contended the “competition itself will suffer from their removal.” The All England Club left the door open to repealing the ban if the situation in Ukraine changes by the time the tournament begins.
“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 with The Championships,” the All England Club said in a statement. “If circumstances change materially between now and June, we will consider and respond accordingly.”
