Players not vaccinated against COVID-19, including defending champion Novak Djokovic, as well as players of Russian or Belarusian origin, including Daniil Medvedev, are welcome at Roland-Garros… “for now”, said the French Tennis Federation (FFT) on Wednesday.
“We impose strict neutrality on Russian and Belarusian players […]. We remain on the principle of all the sports ministries of the European Union and all the key countries around us, ”said the director general of the FFT, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, at a press conference. “You only ban an individual athlete if he has been selected by his country. This is the framework, we stick to it, ”she added.
“For the moment”, however insisted Gilles Moretton, the president of the FFT, which organizes the tournament, from May 22 to June 5.
Wimbledon could ask Russian players who want to participate in the major grass tournament to officially criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin for the military intervention in Ukraine.
“At this stage, we do not intend to go into the detail of individual personal situations, which we also know can be extraordinarily dependent on the family situations experienced by each other”, assured Amelie Oudea-Castera.
“Vigilance” and “pragmatism”
As for the health restrictions linked to COVID-19, “the indicators are green to have a Roland-Garros at full power”, welcomed Mr. Moretton.
Djokovic is therefore expected in Paris, where the vaccine passport has been lifted. “We learned to be extremely careful, tempered Oudéa-Castéra. We see that from month to month, things can change. In an archcatastrophic scenario, there is always a way to reconstitute the sanitary bubbles. Anticipation as best we can, vigilance, pragmatism, and the goal is obviously not to send home players who arrive to play. »