Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates winning the men's singles semi-final match against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas on day twelve of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 28, 2022. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by MARTIN KEEP/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is currently playing under a neutral banner as per directions from the International Tennis Federation
Daniil Medvedev‘s participation in Wimbledon later this year is in jeopardy because of his country’s conflict with Ukraine. Medvedev recently lost his No.1 spot and this recent development from the British Parliament doesn’t help him either. British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said that there have been discussions in the Parliament that athletes may need to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to compete.
“Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled. But I think it needs to go beyond that, I think we need to have some assurance that they are not supporters of Vladimir Putin and we are considering what requirements we may need to get assurances along those lines”, said Huddleston.
The British Sports Minister further added that they were in talks with Wimbledon organisers on how to proceed. “We are looking at this issue of what we do with individuals and we are thinking about the implications of it, because I don’t think people would accept individuals very clearly flying the Russian flag, in particular if there is any support for Putin and his regime”, he said.
There are mixed reactions from the fans and Twitter users to this incident. While most of the fans feel that we shouldn’t be mixing politics and sports, others were not very kind to Daniil Medvedev.
A Twitter user with a Ukrainian flag as a display picture called the statement ‘ridiculous’ as Medvedev has already taken a public stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. As a matter of fact, Medvedev has recently stated that he is all for peace and wants the war to stop.
Another user was very critical of the British Government for mixing sports with politics. “Keep Politics out of Sports”, he tweeted.
Some users on Twitter compared this statement with Putin’s dictatorship. “Just using Putin like tactics, but sure tell us how you are promoting democracy or something”, a user wrote.
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