Ukraine war: Will Medvedev sign anti-Putin form for Wimbledon 2022 entry?

While most international sports have opted for a blanket ban on Russian athletes, tennis has controversially allowed its high-profile Russian and Belarusian stars – led by men's world number two Daniil Medvedev from Moscow – to carry on playing.

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Russia's tennis stars, including World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, chances of participating in the Wimbledon 2022 depends on whether they sign forms denying their allegiance to President Vladimir Putin amidst the Ukraine War.

During a meeting with national governing bodies, United Kingdom's Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston discussed restrictions for Russian and Belarusian athletes. Following the same, Huddleston said, "I had a good meeting with various governing bodies about what we are doing in terms of sanctions and bans for individual athletes. If Russians or Belarusians wish to participate in a UK sport,, they have to be independent and neutral."

While most international sports have opted for a blanket ban on Russian athletes, tennis has controversially allowed its high-profile Russian and Belarusian stars – led by men's world number two Daniil Medvedev from Moscow – to carry on playing.

"We wish to get the assurance of that in a written declaration that they are not receiving money from Putin, Russia or Belarus. We wish to get assurances they will not be making supportive comments about Putin, Russia or Belarus. And we are requesting governing bodies or individual events seek that assurance in advance if they are going to allow neutrals to play. If people are saying they are neutral athletes, we want the assurance that they are genuinely neutral and therefore there isn't any connection with Putin," Huddleston added.

"If some individual sports or entities choose to do an outright ban of Russian or Belarusian athletes, then we will support that as well. If they wish to go down the neutral route, we are requesting that they get that assurance," the Sports Minister concluded.

The men's ATP World Rankings contains four Russians in the top 100 - including no.2 Daniil Medvedev, who won the 2021 US Open - and one Belarusian. The WTA list features 10 Russians and Belarusians in the top 100, with Aryna Sabalenka the highest-ranked of those in the fifth spot.

Earlier this month, Medvedev remained tight-lipped about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the situation involving Wimbledon later this summer. "I try to take it tournament by tournament. I mean, there are always different rules, regulations in order to play or not to play. I don't have any response to Wimbledon. Everybody knows what's happening, so it's basically, of course, impossible to ignore it, but I always said everybody has different opinions on different things in the world," the World No.2 stated.

"I always said I'm for peace. It's very tough in life to talk about what is fair and not fair. So I, of course, do have my own opinions on different topics, but I prefer to speak about them with my family, with my wife, where we can sometimes disagree, but we can discuss," Medvedev added.