Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Wimbledon & Tyson Fury
Every week we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT - WIMBLEDON
This could have easily been our Miss this week, such is the controversy around the developments that have shaken world tennis.
Russian and Belarusian players will not be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year because of the country's invasion of Ukraine, as part of a unilateral approach taken by British tennis to "limit Russia's global influence through the strongest means possible."
The players are also banned from any of the UK grass-court tournaments, with men's world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women's world number four Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus the highest-ranked players to be affected.
Rationalising its decision, The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) said: "Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible.
“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships.
“It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022.”
Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club, commented: “We recognise that this is hard on the individuals affected, and it is with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime.
"We have very carefully considered the alternative measures that might be taken within the UK Government guidance but, given the high profile environment of The Championships, the importance of not allowing sport to be used to promote the Russian regime and our broader concerns for public and player (including family) safety, we do not believe it is viable to proceed on any other basis at The Championships.”
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) also made the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from their tournaments in order to ensure that British tennis is delivering a consistent approach across the UK.
A statement from the LTA said: "After careful consideration the LTA believes that tennis must join many other areas of sport and public life in sending a clear signal to the Russian and Belarusian states that their actions in Ukraine are the subject of international condemnation.
”The continuing participation of Russian and Belarusian nationals at events risks providing a boost to these regimes when there is an unprecedented international effort to isolate them and sanction their actions.”
UK sports minister Nigel Huddleston welcomed the decisions by the AELTC and LTA, saying: "The UK has taken a leading role internationally to make clear President Putin must not be able to use sport to legitimise Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine."
Nadine Dorries, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, added: "Whilst the withdrawal of individual athletes is a complex issue, there is a bigger cause at stake. This decision means Putin won't use the most iconic grand slam in tennis to try to legitimise the horrors he is inflicting on the Ukrainian people. The right move.”
However, the move also attracted criticism with the men’s and women’s tennis governing bodies both branding the decision unfair.
The men's body, the ATP – who still allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete at its events under a neutral flag – said: "Our sport is proud to operate on the fundamental principles of merit and fairness, where players compete as individuals to earn their place in tournaments based on the ATP rankings.
"We believe that today's unilateral decision by Wimbledon and the LTA to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year's British grass-court swing is unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game.
"Discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP rankings.”
The WTA said: "Individual athletes should not be penalized or prevented from competing due to where they are from, or the decisions made by the governments of their countries.
"Discrimination, and the decision to focus such discrimination against athletes competing on their own as individuals, is neither fair nor justified.”
World no.1 Novak Djokovic also aired his disagreement with the decision, saying: "I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war. I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history.
"However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good."
Meanwhile Russian tennis player and world no.8 Andrey Rublev has labelled the ruling “complete discrimination.”
He said: “Banning Russian or Belarusian players will not change anything.
"To give all the prize money [to Ukraine] would have a more positive effect to humanitarian help, to the families who are suffering, to the kids who are suffering, I think that would do something. Tennis will, in that case, be the first and only sport who donates that amount of money and it will be Wimbledon so they will take all the glory."
This is a decision which makes the AELTC and the LTA stand out from the crowd in tennis.
Other sports including athletics, badminton, canoeing, and rowing have all banned Russian and Belarusian athletes. But in tennis, neither the WTA nor the ATP Tour have prevented these individuals from continuing their careers.
There are nine players from Russia and Belarus in the current top 30 world tennis rankings, both men and women and it’s questionable whether the ban have any impact on the war or on Putin’s pride.
Will the ban have any impact on the war? Will the AELTC and LTA decisions reverberate at the Kremlin and have any impact on the direction of the war?
Given the outcry over the war and now over the player ban, Wimbledon and the LTA were damned if they did anything and damned if they didn’t.
Given the sentiment of the British public and politicians towards the gravity of the situation in Ukraine, the AELTC and the LTA may well have felt that they were left with no choice.
Time will tell if the situation eases, if the actions have long-lasting ramifications for other players or even for Wimbledon itself.
Ultimately, sport is the loser as global politics looms large, and so too are the athletes who will suffer undeservedly.
MISS – TYSON FURY
Daniel Kinahan’s worldwide financial sanctioning by the United States has added to the world of boxing’s controversy with the news raising serious questions about the sport’s image.
A $5m (£3.84m) reward has been offered by US authorities for information on the reported leader of the Kinahan-organised crime group, a syndicate best known for smuggling narcotics into Ireland.
Kinahan – a leading figure in boxing who has advised and acted on behalf of many fighters, including World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury – has faced years of allegations that he leads the notorious drug cartel.
A BBC investigation revealed his continued presence in the sport last year, to which he said that allegations of criminality were part of a "campaign" against him.
Fury – who defeated Dillian Whyte on April 23 at Wembley Stadium by a sixth round knockout – initially refused to address the troubling news in the build-up to the fight, later claiming that he has "absolutely zero" involvement with Kinahan, either in a business or advisory role.
Fury had previously been advised by Irishman Kinahan, a co-founder of the MTK Global agency, which represented a number of leading fighters.
In Nicola Tallant’s book Clash of the Clans: The rise of the Irish narcos and boxing's dirty secret, Fury’s former trainer Ben Davison credits Kinahan with helping the down-and-out boxer jump-start his flagging career: "At that point, Tyson was questioning everything about himself, even his own existence.
“To have somebody come along and say, 'don't worry, I believe in you, I've got your back,' was a Godsend to him.”
Kinahan has previously maintained that he cut ties with the company in 2017 before it ceased operations in the wake of the sanctions.
Fury insists he cut ties with Kinahan and MTK in 2020.
He broke his silence at the public workout ahead of his bout with Whyte to address his and the sport’s involvement with the Kinahan organised crime group.
He said: "It's none of my business and I keep my own business to myself and that's it.”
Fury also refuted that he had ever paid consulting fees to Kinahan after The Irish Mirror said Bob Arum's Top Rank - Fury's American promoters - had paid fees of $1.5m-$2m (£1.1-£1.5m) to Kinahan for Fury's past four fights.
When pressed on it, he said: “That's Bob Arum's own personal business; what he does with his own money.
“I can't stop him from spending on gummy bears if he wants to. What someone does with his own money is not in my control."
On his involvement with MTK, he said: "I've never been sponsored by MTK ever.
"That [being managed by MTK] was from 2017-20, three years. That's it, done. End of. Are there any other probing questions for you to try and trip me up? Because you can't. Because I have nothing to hide."
Fury, who was pictured grinning with Kinahan in Dubai in February, maintained his defence: "A picture doesn't mean I'm a criminal does it. I can't control who is in the building. There could be a criminal in this building but doesn't mean I'm involved in his criminal activity does it?"
Finally, Fury was asked whether the Kinahan saga had been a distraction, to which he responded: “Not really, it’s got nowt to do with me, has it? If I say there’s a war going on in Ukraine and people ask me about that, it’s got nowt to do with me.
“I keep my business to myself. I’ve got my own troubles to look after with six kids and a wife nagging me to death for not being at home to help with the kids. I’ve got a lot more to think about than other people’s business.
“I’ve got a man who wants to punch my face in [on Saturday] and I’ve got to deal with that. Anything else is out of my control.”
The Gypsy King’s promoter, Frank Warren, said: "I want to make it very clear. One, Daniel Kinahan has nothing to do with this show.
"Number two, Tyson was unaware of any payments made by Top Rank to Daniel Kinahan and made his position very clear a year ago as to what his position was to Daniel Kinahan. And that's it."
There are no accusations of wrongdoing against Fury.
However, in any other sport, the Kinahan saga would be a seismic scandal.
Yet in boxing, nostalgia prevents such an occurance, with Kinahan’s influence evoking a throwback towards the days when mobsters, corruption, and organised crime controlled the sport.
It should not have taken a global bounty of $5m to be placed on information surrounding Kinahan for the boxing world to open their eyes, and serious questions must be asked of a Fury, who has only distanced himself from a notorious organised crime leader in the wake of international scandal.