Andy Murray recognised for £500,000 donation to Ukraine
Three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray has been given the 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award by the ATP, acknowledging his support for Ukraine this year.
The former world no.1 announced earlier in the calendar that he would pledge all of his prize-money earnings in 2022 to UNICEF, which has seen him donate over £500,000 to Ukrainian children affected by war.
Andy Murray has been named the 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award recipient in recognition of his support for the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. ?#ATPAwards | @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/W6eue01Z0T
— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 15, 2022
Murray joins Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi as one of only four players to have received the award twice, having also been awarded the prestigious honour back in 2014.
The 35-year-old penned an essay to the ATP discussing his gratitude for the award, as well as speaking about the importance of those in privileged positions using their platform for good.
“In February I was playing the tournament in Dubai and I remember watching the news and there were rumours about something happening between Russia and Ukraine.”
“A few days later when Russia invaded Ukraine everyone was very worried about what it would mean. When all the images on the news showing what was happening to families began pouring in, it was devastating. Houses were bombed and families were displaced. Young children were affected by this, with many injured and in some cases dying. I wasn’t sure what I could do to help.”
“Shortly after I decided that from Indian Wells onwards, I would donate my prize money for the rest of the season to UNICEF’s humanitarian response – the final total was just over $630,000. It seemed like something that would give me some extra motivation this year. I thought I could also raise some awareness and hopefully get others involved in helping, too.”
“I have four young children who are really fortunate that everything is fine with them. But being a parent, it affects you differently. You try to put yourself in their shoes. If something like that happened with your own family, how difficult would that be? It is hard to fathom.”
“I’m in the fortunate position to try to make some sort of difference, so hopefully the money that’s been raised through UNICEF can help some of the children who have been affected.”
Murray became a UNICEF UK Ambassador eight years ago, winning the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the first time later that year.
“It’s an honour to be named recipient again. The reason to do the right thing is not for an accolade like this, but it is nice that it is appreciated somewhere.”
“Arthur Ashe was a special person, so to win an award named after him means a lot. He was a great tennis player and has been recognised for that as well, but it speaks for what he’s done off the court that people remember how he helped others.”
The British tennis star receives the award this year, following Marcus Daniell in 2021. Murray spoke about the honour of joining such an illustrious list of people to win the award, particularly those who have won it twice.
“I join Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi as two-time winners of this award. Agassi is someone who I looked up to a lot growing up. I know he has done a lot of great things away from the court with his school. Roger’s foundation has also staged fundraising matches for parts of Africa and I know Aisam has been involved in peace talks in his part of the world.”
“I think that a lot of the young players who are coming through seem like good guys. I’m sure they’re going to be great ambassadors for the sport moving forward. I’d encourage them to try and find some causes that are important to them and mean something to them and to try and give back when they get the chance.”
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