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fallout from Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players, having got the ball rolling in the first place, the Government seems to have gone very quiet.

Wimbledon were admirably pro-active in deciding Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine should not be normalised by the participation of Russian athletes. This is, we hope, a temporary exclusion. Yet sometimes an event is so momentous it forces individuals and nations to take sides.

The invasion of Ukraine was like that. The Government raised the idea of exclusion from Wimbledon, and the All England Club acted.

Yet now it has caused an almighty, and foreseeable, row with the men’s and women’s tours, with talk of boycotts and longer-term ramifications. It is now being speculated next season’s Wimbledon rankings will be based on this season’s performances, meaning those who don’t turn up face a difficult draw. And where is the Government? Nowhere, silent. Not a murmur of support for the tournament and its stance.

The slow-witted sports minister Nigel Huddleston, so vocal at the time, has uttered barely a squeak now the decision transpires to have complex ramifications. It’s as if all he wanted was a populist headline and his name attached.