Russian stars around Medvedev and Rublev have to sign a declaration for tournament participation in Wimbledon

“We want a written statement that they will not receive any money from Putin, Russia or Belarus,” Huddleston said. These athletes should “not make any supporting comments about Putin, Russia or Belarus”.

“When people say that they are neutral athletes, we want assurances that they are really neutral and therefore have no connection with Putin,” said the sports minister.

Therefore, it must also be confirmed that the athletes do not express themselves in support of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, according to Huddleston.

These measures were decided together with various British umbrella organizations and should now be carried out by the individual organizers “if they want to allow neutral athletes”.

Daniil Medvedev on possible starting bans

The professional associations ATP and WTA decided a few weeks ago that Russian and Belarusian athletes can only compete as neutral athletes. This means that the Russian stars Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as well as the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka will have to sign this commitment in Wimbledon in order to be allowed to start.

Medvedev had already commented on possible starting bans at tournaments such as Wimbledon at the beginning of the month. “I don’t have an answer about Wimbledon. Everyone knows what’s happening, so basically it’s impossible to ignore it, but I’ve always said that everyone has a different opinion on different things in the world. I’ve always said that I am for peace,” explained the Russian.

It is “difficult in life to talk about what is fair and what is not fair. Of course I have my own opinion on different topics, but I prefer to talk about it with my family, with my wife, where sometimes we differ are opinions, but we can discuss.”