“We are very conscious of public sentiment” Wimbledon participation of Daniil Medvedev and Co. drags English PM Boris Johnson in talks with the AELTC

“We are very conscious of public sentiment” Wimbledon participation of Daniil Medvedev and Co. drags English PM Boris Johnson in talks with the AELTC

Daniil Medvedev and Boris Johnson

With the Russian aggression in Ukraine not stopping even after nearly 2 months, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Aslan Karatsev, Victoria Azarenka, Aryna Sabalenka and many other Russian and Belarusian tennis Pro await the decision of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) whether they will be allowed to play in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships or not.

With the ITF, ATP and WTA suspending all events in Russia and Belarus along with the respective tennis boards, the players are currently natural athletes playing without any flag to their name. However, given Britain’s strong oppose to Russia for its attempt to invade and start a war in Ukraine, the AELTC is considering banning players from Russia and Belarus.

“It is an enormously complex situation. I think we are all aligned in finding the actions that we see in our papers and TV screens absolutely abhorrent. We are in very close dialogue with the All England Club, the Government, with the tours. We are very conscious of public sentiment in this area. We are trying to navigate what that needs to look like in the summer events in Britain this year,” LTA Chief Executive Scott Lloyd told reporters in Prague.

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Lloyd also directed that the government representative do not just include the Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston but also Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Keeping in mind the recent visit of Johnson to Kyiv where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the two leaders of their nations took a walk in the war-torn capital, Johnson has pledged complete support to the Ukrainians and it could include the ban on Russian and Belarusian players as many Ukrainians demand tennis authorities take the big step as the war continues to wage.

May 16 is the D-Day for Daniil Medvedev and others

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev

With the entry list for players set to be closed on 16th May 2022, it will be another month-long wait for the players to know whether they will be allowed to participate in the 3rd major of the season. With the war showing no signs of coming to an end soon, the talks between the officials of the AELTC and the British government will eventually decide the fate of the players.

Also Read: ‘Another twist in the tale’ Ash Barty signs up for the Global Golf Tournament 2022

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