RUSSIAN and Belarusian tennis stars must sign declaration forms denouncing Vladimir Putin if they wish to play Wimbledon.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston met with national governing bodies last week to discuss the restrictions in place for UK sporting events.
Russian tennis players, including Daniil Medvedev, must denounce Vladimir Putin to play at Wimbledon
Individual athletes from Russia or Belarus who wish appear at SW19 this summer in a “neutral” capacity must give firm assurances they do not earn any money from those rogue states.
Secondly they have to confirm they will not speak out in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And they will not be allowed to wear their nation’s colours or compete under a flag.
While most international sports have opted for a blanket ban, tennis has controversially allowed its high-profile Russian and Belarusian stars – led by mens world No2 Daniil Medvedev from Moscow – to carry on playing.
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 then they have to be independent and neutral and genuinely so.
“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 of 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.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the Government wants individual sports to set their own terms and regulations with regards the inclusion of transgender athletes.
Transgender cyclist Emily Bridges is set to compete against stars like Laura Kenny at the National Omnium Championships on Saturday in Derby.
Huddleston said: “A goal of this Government is to make sure sport is for all, but that there is also safety and fairness.
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“There is a recognition that having a blanket policy across all sports cannot be achieved.
“What we need to have is individual sports taking the lead in developing their own policy towards transgender because an individual competing in say curling is different to an individual in boxing or weightlifting.”
