By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, March 24, 2022
Global politics and Grand Slam tennis could collide this summer.
British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston recently called for Daniil Medvedev and other Russian to provide assurances they don’t support Russian president Putin in order to play Wimbledon. The British Sports Minister's comments came after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on February 24th.
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If US Open champion Medvedev and other Russian and Belarusian players don’t denounce Putin, then they should not be permitted to Wimbledon the British Sports Minister suggested at a select committee in Parliament.
“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," Huddleston said.
“Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled. 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.”
Asked his response today in Miami, Medvedev said he's focusing on the tournaments he can play and reiterated he supports peace.
"Look, I try to take it tournament by tournament," Medvedev said. "I mean, there are always different rules, regulations in order to play or not to play.
"Right now I'm here in Miami. I can play and I'm happy to play tennis. That's, you know, the sport I love. I want to promote the sport all over the world. We'll have tough moments and good moments.
That's, to be honest, all I have to say, you know. That's going to be the same with every tournament. So the next one after this one is Monte-Carlo, you know, where this moment I'm a resident there, so I love this tournament also. "I can play it normally and I'm happy to play it. Don't have any response to Wimbledon."
Some Russian players—including Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova—have spoken out publicly against Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
However requiring Russian players to publicly denounce Putin clearly could put the players and their family members back home in Russia at risk.
The second-ranked Russian reiterated his stance in support of peace in the world.
"I think everybody knows what's happening, so it's basically of course impossible to ignore it," Medvedev said. "But I always said everybody has different opinions on different things in the world. You know, I always said I'm for peace."
Photo credit: Miami Open Facebook