Wimbledon ‘ready to ban’ Daniil Medvedev amid fears win could boost Vladimir Putin regime

Wimbledon officials are reportedly prepared to ban Daniil Medvedev from this year’s tournament over fears a win could boost Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime amid his ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

At present, the three main tennis tours administered by the ATP, the WTA and the ITF have allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to continue playing as long as they compete under a neutral flag and with no anthem played.

However, The Telegraph claim the All England Club have been advised they can go a step further and ban athletes from these counties who have not denounced Putin without facing legal repercussions.

One person who has worked closely with the AELTC said: ‘Private member clubs have more freedom as to who to allow in or not, so they wouldn’t be subject to the same discrimination laws as the tours.

‘If you are running the main tennis tour, you have the freedom to ban players – if they have been found guilty of match-fixing or doping, for instance – but you have to be able to show that this course of action is reasonable.

‘In this instance, if the tours took strong action, Russians players could argue that they are being prevented from making a living through no fault of their own. That is not so much of an issue for Wimbledon, however.’

The player-entry list for Wimbledon has a deadline of mid-May so organisers will be expected to release their expected entry requirement within the next month.

World No.2 Medvedev would likely pose the biggest threat to a Russian winning the trophy having finished as the runner-up at the Australian Open in January.

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