LONDON: Men's tennis world number two Daniil Medvedev will be banned from this year's Wimbledon Grand Slam, as The Times reports that organizers will ban Russian and Belarusian players over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russian and Belarusian players have been able to continue competing under a neutral flag in ATP and WTA events since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
It was believed this would cover the remaining three Grand Slam events - but the ITF banned teams from both countries from the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
But The Times said sources told them after nearly two months of talks that the Wimbledon organizers preferred to ban the players rather than stick to a compromise solution offered by the British government.
It would be like Medvedev and last year's Wimbledon women's singles semi-finalist, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, making statements that they would not make supportive comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin or the war.
Wimbledon organizers believe that signing such statements could negatively affect the families of the players.
Confirmation of the decision will come late Wednesday, the BBC reported.
'Stop the War'
The Kremlin reacted angrily, finding the reports "unacceptable".
"Once again, they are turning athletes into hostages of political prejudices, political intrigues," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This is unacceptable."
Given that Russia is a very strong tennis nation, and given that our athletes rank high in the world rankings, the competition itself will suffer from their removal."
This ban is likely to apply to all English grass court tournaments this summer.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which manages major Wimbledon warm-up tournaments such as Queen's and Eastbourne, said last week that they will follow Wimbledon's lead.
“We think there needs to be alignment from a public perspective, and indeed from a practical implementation perspective. [between the All England Club and LTA]so it's really clear and understandable," said Scott Lloyd, CEO of LTA.
"This is critically important."
Russian and Belarusian players remained silent while denouncing the war, although men's world number eight Andrey Rublev wrote 'fight please' on a TV camera while racing in Dubai just after the invasion took place.
Medvedev, who is now recovering from a hernia surgery, confined himself to saying "I want peace in the whole world".
But Russia's top actress Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was more outspoken.
"Stop the war, stop the violence," he tweeted in March.
"I am not afraid to make my position clear. I am against war and violence."
Former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka was also outspoken.
"It's heartbreaking to see how many innocent people have been and continue to be affected by this violence," the 32-year-old said in March.
"I have seen and experienced that the people of Ukraine and Belarus have always been friendly and supportive of each other. It is difficult to witness the violent separation that is taking place right now."
Belarus is seen as an ally of Russia and facilitated the invasion by allowing troops to cross its borders into Ukraine.
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