ITF EGM upholds suspension of Russian and Belarusian Federations

In a virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on Friday 6 May by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), member nations ratified the ITF Board’s 1 March 2022 suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and the Belarus Tennis Federation (BTF) as ITF members. This also confirms that both nations are ineligible to enter ITF international team competitions. The ITF Board withdrew all ITF events from Russia and Belarus on March 1 until further notice.

The ITF ‘neutral athlete’ policy in relation to individual players remains unchanged at this time, meaning Russian and Belarusian players are only allowed to compete in individual international competition without national affiliation. Under this policy, no Russian or Belarusian national insignia or symbol, flag, anthem, nor any sign of patriotism is permitted.

The ITF is working closely with the Ukraine Tennis Federation to support the tennis community during this humanitarian crisis and calls for peace to be restored. Tennis stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. In addition to the collective donation of $700,000 by professional tennis’ seven governing bodies, the international tennis community continues to raise funds for Tennis Plays For Peace humanitarian effort which has already exceeded its goal to raise $1m. If you wish to know more or make a personal donation, please click here for further information.