Andy Murray: It's important to continue to talk about what’s actually happening in Ukraine

Andy Murray weighed in on Wimbledon's recent decision to overturn its ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players, opining that most of the media coverage has been about the wrong thing.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last year, the All England Club levied a blanket ban on athletes from the aforementioned countries, the only notable tennis body to do so. The ATP and the WTA were not on board with the decision and retaliated by stripping Wimbledon of all ranking points and levying a huge fine.

This year, however, the Grass Major opted to allow everyone to compete once again, provided the Russians and Belarusians sign a statement beforehand saying they are against the war.

Reflecting on the development in an exclusive interview with Tennis Majors, Andy Murray admitted that he was aware of what was going to come before it came out in the press.

However, the three-time Grand Slam winner was of the opinion that instead of focusing on whether a handful of players are able to participate in tournaments or not, the focus of the story should continue to be Ukraine and the hardships the people there are facing on an everyday basis.

“I knew kind of ahead of time that that was sort of how it was going," Murray said. "I think what’s really important is to continue to talk about what’s actually happening in Ukraine just now, not focusing on a few tennis players and a few athletes who may or may not be able to play major sporting events.”

The Scot sided with Ukrainian players, saying that it was important to understand their perspective, even more so than that of Russian players who were not allowed to participate in Wimbledon last year.

With many Ukrainian stars going through "unbelievably difficult times," the former World No. 1 hoped their situation would be brought to light owing to the AELTC's decision instead of the wrong stories getting more time in the spotlight.

“Obviously I have sympathy for the Ukrainian players. I’ve seen that some of the female players have spoken out about how difficult they found it and maybe felt like they could have had more support as well through that.

“You need to understand their perspective as well, and not just the players that weren’t allowed to play last year. There are Ukrainian players on the tour whose families and everything [are affected] and they’re going through unbelievably difficult times as well. And that’s what’s important,” Andy Murray said.

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"It’s a difficult decision for Wimbledon" - Andy Murray

Andy Murray at the Gijon Open

Andy Murray further elaborated on the Wimbledon decision, remarking that it was made very "difficult" by the fact that they were the only organization that chose to ban Russian and Belarusian players from participating.

Regardless, the 35-year-old reiterated that the decision itself should not distract people from what was actually happening in Ukraine, and that that should be at the forefront of these discussions.

“It’s a difficult decision for Wimbledon. Obviously the rest of the sport had gone in a completely different direction to them, which made it very hard. But I don’t think this should be so much about that decision," Andy Murray said. "I think it is distracting a little bit from actually what is taking place. You don’t want that to happen. You want the actual issue to be at the forefront of all of these discussions.”