LTA Chief Executive Scott Lloyd has confirmed the discussions are ongoing between the LTA, The All England Club, the UK government and the ATP and WTA Tours regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian players at Wimbledon.
UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston proposed that Daniil Medvedev and the rest of Russian players should publicly denounce Russian president Vladimir Putin before they are allowed to compete at Wimbledon.
Leading Russian players Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova have all publicly spoken out against the war but Huddleston insists there needs to be more done from their side before they are allowed to compete at The Championships.
“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,” Lloyd said regarding a potential Wimbledon ban for Russian players, per Tennis 365.
“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.”
Medvedev, Russian players could face a Wimbledon ban
Recently, a source close to The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club explained to The Telegraph that private members of the club could ban Russian players without facing any legal repercussions.
“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 [ATP or WTA] tours,” a source who worked closely with the AELTC told The Telegraph.
“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.”