Novak Djokovic Criticises Wimbledon's 'Crazy' Ban on Russian And Belarusian Players

Novak Djokovic has branded the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at Wimbledon this year as 'crazy'.

The All England Club made the announcement on Wednesday, ruling out, among others, US Open champion and world No 2 Daniil Medvedev, men's world No 8 Andrey Rublev and women's fourth-ranked Aryna Sabalenka from featuring in the Grand Slam.

But, speaking at the Serbia Open on Wednesday, reigning Wimbledon men's singles champion and six-time winner Djokovic expressed his disagreement for the organisers' stance.

"I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war," Djokovic said.

"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.

"However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good."

Of the players now banned from competing at Wimbledon in June and July, Medvedev reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, while Sabalenka was a beaten semi-finalist.

Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev writes "No War Please" on the camera after his win in Dubai today #Ukraine #NoWarPleasepic.twitter.com/AilwlNw0Re

— Dr Neil Pender BM MSc FRCP 🏳️‍🌈 (@DrNeilPender) February 25, 2022

Russian world No 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Belarus' Victoria Azarenka - a two-time Australian Open champion - will also miss out. Russian and Belarusian players have also been banned from LTA grass court tournaments this summer.

The All England Club said in a statement:

"We share in the universal condemnation of Russia's illegal actions and have carefully considered the situation in the context of our duties to the players, to our community and to the broader UK public as a British sporting institution."

Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston welcomed the "decisive action" taken by Wimbledon, saying:

"The UK has taken a leading role internationally to make clear that President Putin must not be able to use sport to legitimise Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

"We have set out our position with sport governing bodies and event organisers and will continue to encourage them to take appropriate action for their sport."