03-15-2022, 10:28 PM
The British Govt may be going a bit far now:
Medvedev will be banned from Wimbledon if he fails to denounce Putin, The Age.
Players compete as individuals and bans on Russian teams shouldn't apply. All that should be required is that they compete as neutrals and don't inflame tensions.
It doesn't look like there are any Putin-apologists amongst Russian tennis players anyway, but requiring players to denounce a dictator with a penchant for killing journalists and other critics is problematic. Fortunately, the more successful Russian tennis players have wealth that's not controlled by Putin and could probably avoid having to return to Russia. No doubt Russia's Oligarchs could only dream of that. But there's a difference between expecting players to avoid inflaming tensions and directly attacking their own country.
In any event, Medvedev, Rublev and Palyuchenkova have all done enough in my view to avoid any individual bans.
Medvedev will be banned from Wimbledon if he fails to denounce Putin, The Age.
Players compete as individuals and bans on Russian teams shouldn't apply. All that should be required is that they compete as neutrals and don't inflame tensions.
It doesn't look like there are any Putin-apologists amongst Russian tennis players anyway, but requiring players to denounce a dictator with a penchant for killing journalists and other critics is problematic. Fortunately, the more successful Russian tennis players have wealth that's not controlled by Putin and could probably avoid having to return to Russia. No doubt Russia's Oligarchs could only dream of that. But there's a difference between expecting players to avoid inflaming tensions and directly attacking their own country.
In any event, Medvedev, Rublev and Palyuchenkova have all done enough in my view to avoid any individual bans.