(Reuters) – Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova said she will remove the logo of sanctioned Russian sponsor Tatneft from her kit so she can compete at Wimbledon this year.
Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players in 2022 over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine but said in March it would accept them as neutral athletes for this year’s championships.
Tournament organisers have said players would be prohibited from expressing support for the invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”, and must not receive funding from the Russian or Belarusian states.
Kudermetova’s sponsor Tatneft, an oil and gas company, was sanctioned by the European Union last June.
“I think for Wimbledon, it’s not allowed to play with the badge from Russia, I know that,” Kudermetova told reporters at the Madrid Open on Monday.
Kudermetova, who will face Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals in Madrid, is among several Russian and Belarusian players who have already signed personal declarations that will clear them to compete as neutrals at Wimbledon.
“If I would like to play Wimbledon, I need to take the badge off,” she added.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
