World Tennis extends suspension of Russian and Belarusian tennis federations

The International Tennis Federation (World Tennis) has voted against the return of Russia and Belarus to team competitions and refused to reinstate the membership rights of the national federations of these countries.

Source: Ukrainian Tennis Federation

Details: A vote on the potential return of Russia and Belarus to international tennis took place during the World Tennis (WT) Conference and General Assembly in Almaty in Kazakhstan on 13 October.

Resolutions were submitted to the delegates regarding the resumption of participation by the Russian and Belarusian national teams in international team competitions, as well as the reinstatement of the membership rights of those countries' tennis federations within WT.

Following the vote, none of the proposed resolutions received the necessary support from the delegates.

The current restrictions remain in force. The national teams of Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to participate in international team competitions under the auspices of WT, and their respective national federations will not regain their membership rights.

Background:

• In May, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lifted the ban on Belarusians competing in international events under their own flag, and in July, it reinstated the rights of the Russian Olympic Committee.
• Following the release of the IOC's recommendations, the International Tennis Federation did not support their initiative and refused to allow representatives of Belarus to return to competitions under their national flag.

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