Displaced competitions, refusal of European nations to face Russia, athletes declared persona non grata, sponsors erased or called into question: the Russian invasion in Ukraine is already having serious consequences on professional sport.
• Read also: Russia banned from entering Eurovision Song Contest
• Read also: The world of sport facing the unknown
Four years after the World Cup, Saint Petersburg was preparing to return to the center of attention of football fans. But UEFA quickly announced that it was moving the Champions League final, the pinnacle of European club football, to Paris. Another subject to come for UEFA: its partnership with Gazprom, which will be examined next week by its executive committee and seems very threatened.
Sochi is a symbolic place of Russian “soft power” in sports. Host city of the Winter Games in 2014, it has been hosting the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix since that same year. But this will not be the case this season, since the competition’s promoter, Formula One, has canceled it seven months before it is held.
The American Haas team has for its part called into question its partnership with its Russian sponsor Uralkali, not displaying Russian colors on its single-seaters. And the future in F1 of Nikita Mazepin, son of a leader of Uralkali, who was to drive one of the two single-seaters, seems questioned.
The International Football Federation (FIFA) on Sunday imposed on Russia to play its matches under a neutral banner and to play its home matches outside its territory, following the invasion of Ukraine, under the name of the “Federation Russian football” (RFU). But is Poland more categorical: it refuses to meet Russia on March 24 in Moscow in the World Cup-2022 play-off, “regardless of the name of the team”, she repeated on Sunday, saying that she did not want to participate in a “game of appearances”. Potential opponents of the Russians in the next match, the Swedes and the Czechs also maintained their refusal to meet Russia on Sunday.
What about the 2022 World Cup (November 21-December 18 in Qatar)? Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation (FFF) and member of the FIFA Council, has already mentioned the possibility of an exclusion of Russia. “The world of sport, and in particular football, cannot remain neutral. I will certainly not oppose the exclusion of Russia, ”launched the boss of French football, whose selection is the reigning world champion, in an interview with the daily Le Parisien on Sunday. The English Federation for its part announced in the evening that it would boycott all matches against Russia in “the near future” without mentioning the World Cup. FIFA has not decided, however, not excluding “determining possible sanctions, including potential exclusion from competitions, which will be applied in the near future if the situation does not improve quickly”.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea, announced on Saturday that he was entrusting “the administrators of the Chelsea charitable foundation with the management of Chelsea FC”, a withdrawal that is still rather vague.
Before the League Cup final between the Blues and Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, the captains of the two teams entered the lawn with a wreath of blue and yellow flowers, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The meeting was preceded by a minute of applause.
Manchester United announced on Friday that it had “revoked” its sponsorship contract with the airline Aeroflot, which was banned from British airspace. In Germany, D2 club Schalke 04 removed the Gazprom logo and name from their jerseys.
Usually reluctant to comment on geopolitics, the International Olympic Committee has urged international sports federations to cancel or relocate any event planned in Russia or Belarus. He also asks that the flags of these two countries not be hoisted and that their anthems not be played.
In line with this call, the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced the cancellation of all its competitions in Russia by the end of the season “in the interests of the safety of all participants”.
Also following the call of the IOC, the International Biathlon Federation (IBU) has banned the anthems and flags of Russia and Belarus during World Cup events, during which the Ukrainian flag will instead be hoisted systematically, even if the Ukraine has withdrawn for the end of the season.
The Ukrainian fencers, who were to face their Russian counterparts on Sunday at a World Cup team foil stage in Cairo, have decided to withdraw from the competition. Dressed in yellow and blue, the men’s team members held up signs written in English: “Stop Russia! Stop the war!” ; “Save Ukraine! Save Europe.”
The four major boxing bodies – IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO – announced on Saturday that they would not allow championships in Russia. “While this war has put an end to boxing in Ukraine, our organizations will not allow fights in Russia until further assessment of the situation,” they said in a statement.
Scheduled from August 26 to September 11, the World Volleyball Championships in Russia have not yet been moved, but seem very threatened. The French Olympic champions will not be there, in any case: the Federation has announced that the Blues will not participate in the tournament if it is maintained in Russia.
A great nation in this sport, Russia also lost the organization of the group stage matches of the Leagues of Nations for women in Ufa from June 28 to July 3 and for men in Kemerovo from July 5 to 10.
An accomplished judoka, Russian President Vladimir Putin was suspended on Sunday from his status as honorary president and ambassador of the International Judo Federation, the IJF announced.
The Swedish government for its part called on Saturday for a complete exclusion of Russia from all sports competitions by EU countries. Already, the Norwegian and Swedish ski federations have made it known that Russian athletes are not welcome on their territories for the events in their respective countries next month.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel also warned that “national teams from countries complicit” in the invasion of Ukraine would no longer be welcome in Britain. In fact, the visas of the Belarusian basketball players who were to play Sunday in Newcastle have been canceled.
In France, the Nantes club announced on Saturday that it refused to welcome the Moscow club Chekovskie Medvedi, for a meeting scheduled for Tuesday in the European Handball Cup.
With the exception of matches involving them directly, the Russian clubs aligned in Euroleague basketball (St. Petersburg, Kazan and CSKA Moscow) will have to play their Euroleague home matches abroad. Ditto for European club football matches.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca