The organizers of Wimbledon this year will not allow tennis players from Russia and Belarus because of the war in Ukraine, reports the New York Times.

This information was confirmed to the publication by a senior tennis official who wished to remain anonymous because he does not have the authority to speak on behalf of the All England Tennis Club..

This is the first major tennis tournament that does not allow athletes from aggressor countries due to the Russian-Ukrainian war..

Note that initially the British authorities wanted to demand guarantees from the players that they did not support Russian President Vladimir Putin, but later they abandoned such a scenario so that the players would not put their families at risk. Instead, they decided to completely remove them from participation..

Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments and takes place on grass..

Recall that on February 24, Russian President Putin made an urgent statement about conducting a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, launching a large-scale invasion of Ukrainian cities..

After that, Russian sports began to plunge into complete isolation.. There are practically no federations left that have not excluded the Russians from their competitions.

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Earlier it was reported that the invaders destroyed the tennis center in Irpen.