The British government insists on its intention that athletes from Russia and Belarus who come to compete in the United Kingdom declare their membership. Neutrality and independence of Russia Vladimir Putin.
This means that athletes such as world number two Daniil Medvedev who will be number one with one more win in Miami, their participation in Wimbledon, which takes place in the British capital at the end of June, may be in jeopardy.
Medvedev is not the only Russian affected by these measuresas Andrei Rublev (7), Karen Khachanov (25) and Aslan Karatsev (32) They are inside the top 100 and, under normal circumstances, would participate in their third Grand Slam tournament of the season.
As for women, the most surprising case is that of Arina Sabalenka, number 5 in the world, as well as Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (14) and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (16).
The ATP and WTA players have not stopped players from these countries and are only asking them to play with the neutral flag and without their country symbols. However, the British government wants to go a step further.
“I’ve had some meetings with various sporting bodies to talk about possible sanctions and bans on individual athletes,” said Nigel Huddleston, Britain’s sports minister.
“We have asked these entities that if Russian and Belarusian athletes want to participate in competitions in the UK, they have to be independent and impartial. Really. We want this to be done in a written statement, and that they receive neither money from the President nor from Russia or Belarus,” Huddleston added. . They will not make any supportive comments to Putin, Russia or Belarus.”
