Tennis: Russia

(asked on 9th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she will take steps to prevent Russian players participating at Wimbledon tennis tournament.


Answered by
Nigel Huddleston Portrait
Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 14th March 2022

The Government strongly condemns Russia’s unprovoked, flagrant actions. Russia must not be allowed to exploit major sporting and cultural events on the world stage to seek to legitimise its illegal invasion of Ukraine.

That is why we brought together an international coalition to see what more we could do to increase the pressure on Putin’s regime, and issued a joint statement with 36 other nations calling on international sporting federations to endorse the principles that:

  • Russia and Belarus should not be permitted to host, bid for or be awarded any international sporting events.

  • Individual athletes selected by Russia and Belarus, administrators and teams representing the Russian or Belarusian state should be banned from competing in other countries, including those representing bodies, cities or brands that are effectively representing Russia or Belarus, such as major football clubs.

  • Wherever possible, appropriate actions should be taken to limit sponsorship and other financial support from entities with links to the Russian or Belarusian states.

The full statement is available here.

The issue of Russian or Belarussian individual sports persons participating in a truly neutral capacity - in the UK and overseas - adds further complexity, and our position will have the greatest impact if it is taken in line with other nations. We are engaging with national governing bodies, including the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and international counterparts in order to reach an agreed position that can be implemented as consistently as possible.

Reticulating Splines