The president of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Steve Simon, said on Wednesday that the Russian and Belarusian players “should not be excluded” from tournaments for “authoritarian leadership”alluding to the war unleashed more than two weeks ago after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Players and players should not be penalized with exclusion from tournaments due to authoritarian leadership,” American Simon told the BBC, referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine and its repercussions on the sport.
Due to the current situation, athletes from Russia and Belarus cannot compete under the name or flag of their country, nor play in team competitions, the DPA news agency reported.
“You never know what the future may hold, but I can say that we have never prohibited athletes from participating in our tour due to political positions. that your leadership can take. It would take something very, very significant to change.”
Simon, the main leader of the WTA.
Simon, a former tennis player, gained notoriety by claiming at the time that the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who had reported abuse in November 2021, “be allowed to speak”.
