Wimbledon set to donate £500,000 to Ukraine relief following Russian ban U-turn

After taking a U-turn on the ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes, Wimbledon elected to donate 500.000 pounds towards Ukraine relief efforts.

The event made a bolt decision last year by banning players from Russia and Belarus due to the war in Ukraine.

The UK government recommended the move which ultimately was followed by the LTA but it created a lot of problems for the organization and the events. They were fined heavily by the ATP and the WTA while also being stripped of their points though it had no impact on the event as most players didn't boycott it despite the lack of points.

This year however they made a U-turn and allowed those players to compete which was welcomed by some players openly while others, mostly from the Ukranian side, spoke out against it. The event itself was under threat of more fines and it made very little sense to continue that as they weren't really backed by many in that regard.

After making the U-turn Wimbledon elected to donate 500.000 to relief efforts in the country which was announced by AELTC chair Ian Hewitt:

“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, but does not lessen in any way our total condemnation of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We are pleased to share that, in partnership with the LTA, we will donate to Ukraine relief one pound for each ticket holder at the championships this year, which will result in a contribution of more than half a million pounds. 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.”