The All England Tennis Club, reportedly under pressure from the British government, has decided with “deep regret” to ban all Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. A number of sporting events, including tennis, have banned Russian teams while allowing individual players to compete with no official acknowledgment of their country affiliation. But Wimbledon’s decision is highly unusual – the oldest of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments hasn’t banned individual players from competition since just after World War II. We have questions, and we’d be interested to read your answers via email. Is this a welcome public refusal to continue life as normal following an invasion condemned by the governments of 141 countries? Should sports and politics be kept separate? Is it fair to blame tennis players for the actions of their governments? Should the players’ expressed opinions on the invasion matter? What do you think? Write to us here.
