Wimbledon will donate over half a million pounds to relief efforts in Ukraine, the All England Club announced on Tuesday.
One pound for each ticket sold will go towards Ukraine, while the All England Club will give free accommodation to Ukrainian tennis players and their teams during the grass-court season and welcome 1,000 Ukrainian refugees to the tournament.
The news comes after Wimbledon announced it would allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete at this year’s Grand Slam as neutral athletes having banned them last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking on Tuesday, All England Lawn Tennis Club chairman Ian Hewitt said of the decision to welcome back Russian and Belarusian players: “It was a difficult and challenging decision which was made with the full support of our UK Government and the international stakeholder bodies in tennis.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka were both banned from taking part at Wimbledon last year but can compete as neutral athletes in 2023
“I personally say that I found this probably the most difficult decision during my chairmanship. [It] does not lessen in any way our total condemnation of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“We will again work with Merton and Wandsworth Councils and the British Red Cross to invite 1,000 Ukrainian refugees to join us for a day at Wimbledon, including tickets, food and drink and transport.”
This year’s women’s Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka, and fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka are among the players now eligible to play at Wimbledon.
That list also includes Russian men’s players Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.
The Lawn Tennis Association was hit with a fine for banning Russian and Belarusian players in 2022, while world ranking points were removed from the Grand Slam.
Andy Murray says it is important that Wimbledon focuses on the Ukraine war
Speaking earlier this month to the Tennis Majors website, Andy Murray said Wimbledon must focus on the Ukraine war.
The two-time Wimbledon champion said: “What’s really important is to continue to talk about what’s happening in Ukraine now, not focusing on a few tennis players and a few athletes who may or may not be able to play major sporting events.
“It’s a difficult decision for Wimbledon. The rest of sport had gone in a completely different direction to them, which made it hard. But I don’t think this should be so much about that.
“It’s distracting a little bit from actually what’s taking place. You don’t want that to happen. You want the actual issue to be at the forefront of all of these discussions.
“I’ve seen some of the female [Ukrainian] players have spoken out about how difficult they found it and maybe felt like they could have had more support. You need to understand their perspective as well, and not just the players that weren’t allowed to play last year.
“There are Ukrainian players whose families [are affected] and they’re going through unbelievably difficult times. That’s what’s important.”
