Tennis is playing for peace—and pledging financial support for humanitarian relief efforts in response to the war in Ukraine.
The seven governing bodies of the game—ATP, WTA, ITF and the four Grand Slam tournaments—have united in a new initiative to aid the humanitarian relief effort in war-ravaged Ukraine. They will make a joint charitable donation of $700,000 in aid of humanitarian relief and to support the Ukraine Tennis Federation.
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Tennis has been unified condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24th in a joint statement issued last Tuesday.
Now, the games governing bodies are uniting to aid Ukraine with a new Tennis Plays For Peace campaign over the coming weeks. Today each of the seven entities has donated $100,000 USD to the humanitarian relief efforts, with donations supporting Global Giving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund which will provide immediate help on the ground across the region, as well as the Ukraine Tennis Federation.
The seven bodies will also signal support via their social and digital platforms by prominently featuring the Ukraine ribbon icon, with everyone in the tennis ecosystem encouraged to use the hashtag #TennisPlaysforPeace.
In addition, physical ribbons will be distributed for ATP & WTA players to wear at the upcoming BNP Paribas Open tournament in Indian Wells.
Ukrainian tennis players Elina Svitolina and Sergiy Stakhovsky, who has himself returned to Ukraine to join the reserve army, have produced a powerful and emotive short video with a message of hope for their country.
Tournaments and tennis federations across the world, along with the entire playing spectrum - from juniors, seniors and wheelchair athletes - will be sent a digital toolkit to further drive awareness and support the relief efforts.
All seven organizations thank players, tournaments, staff and fans for their incredible efforts already, and further plans for Tennis Plays for Peace will be communicated in the coming weeks.
Click here to make a donation to Global Giving in support of the humanitarian relief efforts.
Photo credit: Getty