London | Medvedev may be banned from Wimbledon

Daniil Medvedev may well find himself unable to compete at this year’s Championships following his country’s unacceptable invasion of the Ukraine with the AELTC reportedly considering a ban on all Russian players from the grass court leg of the majors.

Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled. British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston

This possibility has been raised by British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston who has said he would not be comfortable with a “Russian athlete flying the Russian flag” and winning The Championships.

He said individual Russian athletes, such as Medvedev, may be asked to provide guarantees they will not fly their national flag while competing in Britain and provide assurances that they do not support President Putin.

“We need some potential assurance that they are not supporters of Vladimir Putin. We’re considering what requirements we may need,” Mr Huddleston told a parliamentary select committee when asked about Medvedev competing at Wimbledon and revealed he was discussing the issue with the Wimbledon organisers, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

“Many countries have agreed that they will not allow representatives from Russia to compete. There are also visa issues as well. When it comes to individuals, that is more complex.

“Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled.”

Medvedev became the No. 1 tennis players in the world last month but lost the top spot after just three weeks following a third-round loss at the Indian Wells Masters.

Russian and Belarusian players are currently allowed to play on the ATP and WTA tours but not under the flag of their countries. In addition, Russia is not allowed to defend its Davis Cup and BJK Cup titles and Belarus is banned from both competitions.

Wimbledon runs from June 27th to July 10th