The Lawn Tennis Association has been fined £820,000 by the ATP for banning Russian and Belarusian male players from grass-court events this summer.
The ban was imposed in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The governing body has also been warned that it could lose its ATP membership if a similar decision is made next year.
The LTA said it was “deeply disappointed” and accused the ATP of showing a “surprising lack of empathy for the situation in Ukraine”.
The sanction follows six-figure fines for the LTA and the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which organize Wimbledon, of the WTA for excluding Russian and Belarusian players.
The ATP, which oversees men’s tennis events outside of Grand Slam tournaments, allows Russians and Belarusians to compete in Tour events, but not under their national flags.
“The ATP, in its findings, showed no acknowledgment of the exceptional circumstances created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or the response of the international sporting community and the UK government to that invasion,” it said. the LTA said in a statement.
“The ATP seem to view this matter as a simple violation of their rules – with a surprising lack of empathy for the situation in Ukraine and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced.”
The LTA has been fined $200,000 (£164,018) for each of the five ATP events it has staged this year: tour-level events at Queen’s Club and Eastbourne, and Challenger tournaments at Surbiton, Nottingham and Ilkley.
The LTA followed the lead of the All England Club (AELTC) when it decided to ban all Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon, following government pressure.
The WTA Women’s Tour has already fined the LTA $750,000 (£615,067) for barring players from its grass-court events in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne.
The strongly worded statement from the LTA continued with a warning that the fine will affect future tournaments held in the UK.
“The financial impact of this fine and the WTA fine will have a material impact on the LTA’s ability to develop and host tennis in this country,” he continued.
“For example, we intended to run a number of ATP Challenger level events to give more opportunities to lower ranked players in Q1 2023 and we will no longer be able to do so, especially given the possibility of new fines.
“We will carefully review our response and await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA’s decision and sanction.”
The ATP and WTA have both stripped Wimbledon of ranking points this year, and it’s not lost on the LTA that points will be awarded in this month’s United Cup – despite the exclusion of Russian players.
The ATP will donate the fine to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
Another very sensitive decision awaits the AELTC and the LTA in the spring. With no end to the war in Ukraine in sight, the two organizations will have to decide whether they are ready to incur the ire of governing bodies and some players by once again banning Russians and Belarusians.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Michelle Donelan said: “Despite widespread condemnation, international tennis tours are determined to be pariahs in this area, hampering investment in the growth of our national game.
“It’s a bad decision on the part of the ATP and the WTA. I urge them to think carefully about the message this sends and to reconsider.”
