British Government Wants Daniil Medvedev to Denounce Putin to Avoid Wimbledon Ban

The world’s No. 1 tennis player, Russian Daniil Medvedev, has yet to publicly denounce Russian president Vladimir Putin in regards to the invasion of Ukraine.

Following the Russian invasion beginning in late February, Medvedev spoke at the Mexican Open saying he wants to “promote peace.” However, this was not seen as taking a stance against Putin’s actions.

Medvedev’s stance (or non-stance) came up in a discussion at the British Parliament this week in regards to the Russian’s possibility of playing at Wimbledon this summer. British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said Medvedev would need to express that he is not a supporter of Putin in order to play in the United Kingdom’s premier tournament.

“Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled,” Huddleston said. “We need some potential assurance that they are not supporters of Putin and we are considering what requirements we may need to try and get some assurances along those lines.”

No decision has been made regarding Medvedev and Wimbledon as of Wednesday afternoon.

WTA head Steve Simon also spoke on the situation, saying that he doesn’t want players to be banned from tournaments because of their affiliation to countries or political beliefs.

“I feel very strongly that these individual athletes should not be the ones that are being penalized by the decisions of an authoritarian leadership that is obviously doing terrible, reprehensible things,” Simon said.

No Russian or Belarusian players have been punished on the ATP or WTA tours. However, players from those countries are seen as neutral athletes while competing in events since the international governing bodies of tennis denounced Russia and Belarus’s invasion. Additionally, Russia and Belarus are not allowed to play in team events such as the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.