Russian Veronika Kudermetova sparked controversy by wearing the logo of Tatneft, an oil and gas giant whose former subsidiary had already been sanctioned by the EU for supplying Vladimir Putin’s army, at the Madrid Open.
Kudermetova is sponsored by Tatneft, Russia’s fifth-largest oil and gas company, and wears its logo on the sleeve of her warm-up jersey and on the chest of her match jersey in Madrid this week.
A Tatneft subsidiary was sanctioned last June by the European Union because it manufactured and supplied tires to the Russian army for vehicles used in the illegal war against Ukraine. She was sanctioned after Tatneft announced the sale of the subsidiary.
WTA rules do not appear to prohibit world No. 13 Kudermetova from wearing the logo, nor do organizers of the Madrid tournament appear to have any recourse to stop her.
However, this problem has been predicted by the tennis authorities in the United Kingdom and if Kudermetova plays on the grass this summer, I understands that it will not be able to do so while wearing the Tatneft logo.
Russians will be allowed to play in the UK this year after the All England Club and the LTA lifted their ban. However, they will have to sign a declaration of neutrality promising that they will not show support for the Russian regime or its illegal war, and that they will not receive any funding from the Russian state.
I was unable to confirm whether Tatneft, whose board chairman Rustam Minnikhanov is the president of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia and which has been personally sanctioned by the United States, would be considered an instrument of the Russian state.
But I Kudermetova is reportedly banned from wearing the Tatneft logo in the UK, as the neutrality declaration states that players cannot show support for any Russian companies.
Last week, Kudermetova was also quoted in a statement from the Tennis Federation of Ukraine (FTU) in which she called for professional tours to be banned for players with contracts with CSKA, the Russian military’s central sports club. .
“The IOC statement of March 28, Article 4, states that all Russian and Belarusian athletes who have contracts with their countries’ armed forces or with national law enforcement agencies cannot participate in international sporting events,” said the FTU.
“In line with these recommendations, the FTU calls on tennis organizations to prevent players and coaches from aggressor countries who have contracts with the Central Army Sports Club from performing and attending competitions.”
Receiving funding from CSKA would clearly contravene the declaration of neutrality, but I understand that the terms of this contract will only apply during the grass season and not before or after.
An earlier version of this article suggested that oil and gas giant Tatneft had been sanctioned by the EU. In fact, it was Tatneft’s tire subsidiary that was sanctioned in June 2022, after Tatneft announced the sale of the subsidiary. We are happy to clarify this
