Wimbledon will be “celebrating” Roger Federer when the Swiss superstar returns to the Championships this summer.
The eight-time champion missed last year’s event because of his knee injury and he announced his retirement in September. He then hinted he would be open to returning to SW19 to commentate for the BBC. Fred Perry has a statue outside Centre Court and the All England Club are considering how to remember Federer’s career.
And chairman Ian Hewtt said: “He is a very great champion. We have a very close association. I am delighted to say that Roger will be making a visit here as a member. He is very welcome any time. And yes, we will be celebrating his achievements in an appropriate Wimbledon way in due course. More to follow.”
Speaking at the Wimbledon Spring Conference today, chief executive Sally Bolton revealed Russian and Belarusian players have already started signing personal declarations that they will not publicly support the war in Ukraine.
Players from the two nations were banned last year. This time they will have to sign special updated Terms and Conditions of Entry to the tournament also stating they will be competing as neutrals and not receiving financial support from the Russian or Belarusian governments.
Bolton said: “That option is available to them up until the entry deadline. And players are beginning to sign those as we speak. A number of players have already signed them in and are engaged in planning on on competing at the championships,
"We listened very much to the feedback from last year. And that feedback from the athletes was that they wanted the choice to be able to sign the declaration. So at this point, we have given the players the choices, our declaration, we've spent a significant amount of time engaging with those players to ensure that they fully understand what they're signing up to.
"And at this point, we have a number of players who are in the process of signing off have signed and it would be hard to say where we finally ended up.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba last month branded Wimbledon’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete was “immoral”. Hewitt admitted that it was “an incredibly difficult decision” - and the All England Club’s conscience is to be eased by donating £1 for every ticket to Ukrainian relief and inviting 1,000 Ukrainian refugees.
He added: “For the Ukrainian players, the All England Club and the LTA will fund the accommodation costs of two rooms for all Main Draw and Qualifying players for the entirety of the grass court season.
"Those players will also be offered the opportunity to practise at either the All England Club’s courts or via the LTA at the Surbiton courts between their last match at Roland-Garros and the Saturday prior to Qualifying week at Wimbledon.”
