THE SHADY CALL FOR WIMBLEDON BOYCOTT OVER RUSSIA BAN, A MATTER OF PROFIT BEFORE CONSCIENCE?

The decision by the All-England Club in charge of organising Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam Tournament to ban all Russian and Belarusian players from participating in the prestigious tournament over the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been met with wide condemnation from the tennis world including the WTA and the ATP tennis associations who took an irresponsible decision last week to downgrade Wimbledon tournament to a mere Exhibition game because of the Russian ban and wider condemnation has come from some so-called big name players in the tennis World. One can easily be deceived as to why these condemnation looks quite telling as the reason behind this is one that beggars belief.

It is on record that the All-England club acted appropriately in line with the UK governmmet sanctions against entities and personalities of Russian and Belarusian extract and following the example by other world sports governing bodies who clearly wanted to send a clear message to the Putin regime and prevent the Russian state from using their success on the tennis court to fuel their propaganda.

From the outset one can be easily deceived on the intentions of these anti-ban / Pro- Russian tennis sympathisers the likes of Novak Djokovic, British Andy Murray and others in condemning the ban but when one takes a closer look, it was not all about protection of the rights of those tennis players from Russia and Belarus but rather one shrouded in personal greed, ego, status and ranking. They care less about the lives of innocent Ukrainians and children murdered daily from the smoking barrels of the Russian aggressors.

Many sports bodies including FIFA, UEFA and the IOC has before now sent out clear messages to the Putin regime by banning athletes, players, football clubs from all competitions but for the selfishness of some tennis players and concern over losing their ranking points, selfish glories and money, if Wimbledon is downgraded these tennis players cowardly gave in to their own selfish quest by condemning the UK sports body for their unilateral decision to ban competitors from Russia and Ukraine as if the lives of innocent Ukrainians doesn’t matter. There has not been any evidence yet to show these disgruntled players had at any time condemned the action of Russia. This tune played by Russia is effectively having a choke hold on the greedy sportsmen and women in the West who are right now perfectly dancing to the Russian Roulette.

The action taken by the All-England club must be commended and the world must stand together to defeat this type of narrative of aggression, repression, and military campaign against any sovereign State.

While sympathies can be expressed over those athletes’ inability to compete in that prestigious competition, the fact still remains that there are other athletes of Ukrainian origin who are unable to compete in this year’s Wimbledon because of the unnecessary war brought to bear on them by the Russian regime and having those players who refused to renounce their country’s barbaric acts playing in such competitions would summarily bring mockery to justice and good conscience.