"I stand by my position that I don't support the decision" - Novak Djokovic on Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian athletes
Novak Djokovic has reiterated his stance against Wimbledon's ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from this year's Championships owing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Wimbledon's decision, announced last month, has split the tennis world down the middle.
"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. It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022," Wimbledon's announcement read.
Statement regarding Russian and Belarusian individuals at The Championships 2022.
Many top players like Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have criticized Wimbledon's decision, saying it is unfair on the athletes concerned. The ATP has condemned the decision as one that could set a 'damaging precedent'.
#BBCTennisRafael Nadal has criticised the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
🗣 "I think it's very unfair [on] my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues"
Read more here 👇 #BBCTennis
Ahead of his campaign at the Madrid Masters, Djokovic said that it was a difficult situation for the Russian and Belarusian players.
"As I said, you know, I still stand by my position that I don't support the decision. I think it's just not fair, it's not right, but it is what it is," he said.
"I heard, yes, I have spoken to some of the Russian players in Belgrade, and, obviously it's not an easy situation to be in, you know, stripped away the right to participate in one of the biggest tournaments if not the biggest tournament in the world."
"I guess we'll have to wait and see" - Novak Djokovic on the evolving situation regarding Russian and Belarusian athletes
Asked about possible points deductions and sanctions, and Russian and Belarusian players taking legal action against Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic said the player council, along with the players, would decide the best way forward.
"You know, they are entitled to make the decision, and now I guess it's on player council, the tour management, to really decide along with the players what is the best solution in this situation, whether they keep the points, protect the points, take away 50% of the points or whatever," he said.
Djokovic added that the ATP is going to analyze the evolving situation to take the best course of action, although he noted that he hasn't spoken to people from the men's tennis body.
"It's hard. You know, I understand that, you know, there is frustration. ATP is going to, I guess, analyse the whole situation and understand what can be done. I have not spoken to people from ATP, so I'm not sure about it," he said.
Interestingly, the Serb was not allowed to defend his title at this year's Australian Open, as he was unvaccinated against COVID-19. Djokovic spoke about the ordeal of missing a big tournament.
"Going through something similar, let's say, it's not the same thing, but going through something similar earlier this year for myself, it's frustrating knowing that you're not able to play," he said.
Djokovic hoped that a solution could be worked out so that Russian and Belarusian players do not lose out on ranking points due to not being allowed to compete at Wimbledon.
"We had in the last couple of years, because of CORONA, some reduction on points, and different, I guess, models were implemented that were not implemented before because of CORONA in order to allow players not to play if they don't want to play but still have their points," he said.
"So I heard that some of those models are still considered to be, you know, used in this kind of instance, but, you know, I'm not sure what is right, what is wrong, to be honest. I guess we'll have to wait and see the outcome," he added.
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