Tennis legend Ilie Nastase has reacted to the information that he has been banned by the organisers from entering the Wimbledon complex.
Nastase says he does not believe this is real, anyway it is abnormal, as he is not suspended by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
“I have no interdiction, if I buy a ticket I can go to the matches. I haven’t been suspended, the case hasn’t been solved. They are buying time. No one can stop me entering the arena having a ticket. They might ban me from going to England as well! The security staff would look at every person entering the complex? Then I might get disguised! I haven’t been to Roland Garros, although I was invited by Ion Tiriac to his box. I didn’t go, maybe I might have done something stupid, I might have an argument with someone… I don’t know when they will suspend me, maybe in the next 5 years, it depends of the trial. They are buying time to mock me, so that during the US Open is the same situation. However, Wimbledon and Roland Garros have no connection whatsoever with Fed Cup. Serena swore a chair umpire and her punishment was of two years, suspended sentence,” Ilie Nastase has told Dolce Sport.
Security staff at Wimbledon have reportedly been shown a picture of Ilie Nastase to make sure they do not allow him into the grounds. The former tennis star, nicknamed “Mr Nasty” for his rude outbursts, was ejected from a match during a Fed Cup tie in Romania earlier this year and subsequently banned from the French Open, telegraph.co.uk reports.
During the match the 70-year-old Romania team captain launched a foul-mouthed tirade directed at his British counterpart Anne Keothavong and British number one Johanna Konta, reducing her to tears.
Earlier this year Serena Williams also accused Nastase of racism over remarks he made about her unborn child.
It is thought the G4S guards stationed at each gate into the grounds have been told the former world number one, who was previously invited into centre court’s Royal Box, is not welcome at the tournament even as a paying customer.
Nastase accused Wimbledon of being “small-minded” after it was announced he would not be invited to the Royal Box at the championship this year.
A spokeswoman for the All England Lawn Tennis Club confirmed that security would be aware of what Nastase looks like from photographs and previous security briefings.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has temporarily suspended Nastase while it investigates his remarks during April’s Fed Cup match, and the All England Club said it has upheld the ban, the same sources reads.