Andy Murray has staged a dramatic intervention in the controversy over disgraced tennis administrator Justin Gimelstob – the man who still has designs on running the world game despite the guilty verdict handed down against him in a Los Angeles court on Monday.

Gimelstob pleaded “no contest” this week to a felony battery charge, after committing what judge Upinder Kalra called “a violent, unprovoked attack” on 50-year-old venture capitalist Randall Kaplan on Halloween last year. He remains on the board of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, where he has built up a number of allies including world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Murray becomes the first high-profile player to enter the argument, in a move which will apply pressure to Djokovic and other leading players to declare where they stand. “I don’t see how, with everything that has gone on, how it’s possible for him to remain in a position of authority or management at the ATP right now,” Murray told The Sunday Telegraph.

Murray’s intervention will add to the growing groundswell of opinion against Gimelstob. Since Monday’s verdict, several former professionals – including Martina Navratilova, Darren Cahill, Pat Cash, Amelie Mauresmo, Pam Shriver and Tim Mayotte – have suggested that he should not be continuing in his high-profile role.