Wimbledon to step up security to avoid pro-Putin demonstrations

Wimbledon will be expected to step up security at this year’s Championships to avoid a repeat of the pro-Russia demonstrations that erupted at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Chants in support of Russia were allowed to ring out for several minutes before guards appeared in Melbourne Park, and even then, they initially stood and watched before taking action. Eventually, the police became involved and four of the main agitators were questioned.

Despite all the unsavoury images projected by the pro-Putin demonstrators, who gathered on the steps of Rod Laver Arena after Novak Djokovic’s quarter-final win over Russia’s Andrey Rublev, the All England Club are still expected to admit Russians and Belarusians to this summer’s Wimbledon.

Players from those two nations were controversially banned from last year's championships as punishment for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Although the AELTC committee have yet to finalise their decision about this year's championships, it’s understood they will be left to make their own minds up. Government provided guidance in March last year that athletes from Russia or Belarus should not compete as representatives of those countries through flags, anthems or any state funding.

In the spring of 2022, the sports minister at the time, Nigel Huddleston, was keen to warn athletes from Russia and Belarus that they would have to sign a declaration of independence in order to compete in the UK. “If people are saying they are neutral,” Huddleston said, “we want the assurance that they are genuinely neutral and therefore there isn’t any connection with Putin.”

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has not changed that guidance, but after Wimbledon stood alone in a tennis world in which every other event admitted Russians and Belarusians, the AELTC are expected to relent. Especially after the way they were treated by the two tours last season, with rankings points stripped and a fine of £250,000 applied for breaching rules.

Telegraph Sport reported in December that the AELTC were ready to lift their ban on Russian and Belarusian players – along with the LTA – and it is understood that position will not change regardless of events in Australia this week. That includes the embarrassing episode for 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, whose father Srdjan was involved in the pro-Putin demonstrations and was seen to say “Long live the Russians” in a video that emerged on Wednesday night.

According to a Tennis Australia statement, “A small group of people displayed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened security guards following a match on Wednesday night and were evicted. One patron is now assisting police with unrelated matters.”

Organisers also reminded Djokovic and his family not to promote political causes after Srdjan became involved with pro-Russian demonstrators who chanted “Russia, Serbia, Russia, Serbia” and held up a flag showing Putin’s face.

The priorities for Wimbledon’s security this summer will include bag searches in an attempt to find and eliminate unwanted flags. It is, however, difficult to prevent people from wearing politicised clothing. One Serbian supporter on Wednesday arrived in a white shirt emblazoned with Novak Djokovic’s name, which he then removed to reveal a black T-shirt printed with the pro-war “Z” symbol.