Women tennis players have been advised by the WTA to forgo a possible boycott of this month's Olympic tennis tournament in Athens.
Several players had reacted angrily to the exclusion of Germany's Anca Barna and Marlene Weingaertner by their country's Olympic Committee, despite being guaranteed entrance based on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rankings.
The players, competing in the Montreal Cup in Canada, had said they would consider boycotting the tournament, which starts on August 15th, unless the German Olympic Committee allowed the pair to take part.
But WTA chief executive Larry Scott met about 30 of the players on Wednesday in Montreal and "counselled" them not to withdraw.
"All I can say is that Larry did meet the players and was very clear with them that missing the tournament was not in the best interests of women's professional tennis or sport in general," a spokesman said on Thursday.
The WTA had been working with the ITF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to try to get the German Olympic Committee (NOK) to change its mind and include the pair. The deadline for entry to the tournament is at the end of this week.
However NOK has said this afternoon the two players would not be going to Athens.
"We announced on July 21 our team of 453 athletes and no one will be added," said NOK president Klaus Steinbach.
Steinbach said the national committees have been given full responsibility for team nominations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "We expect the ITF and the WTA to respect that," he added.
With a maximum of four competitors per country allowed in the women's singles events, the top-56 ranked players earn automatic entry into the Olympics. Barna and Weingaertner, ranked 46th and 52nd respectively, qualify for Athens based on the ITF's criteria.
The German Olympic Committee had its own criteria of reaching a semi-final of a Grand Slam or the final of a tier-one event, which neither player has met.
Weingaertner said she thought a boycott may not be the best option.
"I believe the Olympics is a special event and the players should play under any circumstances," the 24-year-old was quoted as saying on the
Globe and Mailnewspaper's website. "But I'm really disappointed because I've hoped all my life to participate in the event."