What’s more, Russia has its anthem and flags prohibited by him IOC and the FIFA… and it is under discussion that his team be excluded from the World Cup, which that country organized just four years ago.
“Sport is disproportionately important to authoritarian regimes. The eventual inability to participate in competitions would hit Russia hard”assured the AFP the president of the British Olympic Committee (BOA), Sir Hugh Robertson.
“Russians are passionate about sport. Hosting big events excites them”so an exclusion “it will immediately provoke questions about what is going on”declared to the AFP who was for two decades head of marketing for the IOC, Michael Payne.
“Putin may not care what the world thinks of him, but he does pay close attention to what the Russian people think of him.”he added.
Another threat to the Russian government is the public statements against the war that have already been made by Russian athletes such as the tennis player Andrew Rublevthe international footballer Fyodor Smolovice hockey star alex ovechkin or the cyclist Pavel Shivakov.
“This can incite the population to question the acts of their leaders and undermine national support for the war”according Payne.
Another former IOC official before participating in five successful Games bid campaigns, Terrence Burns was convinced that “Russia must pay the price for what it has done and unfortunately this includes its athletes.”
Is the economic balance of European professional sport going to be questioned about its sponsorship contracts? The Man Utd already announced that it breaks its contract with the Russian airline Aeroflot.
A source familiar with this type of negotiations confirmed to the AFP that UEFA “is available” to make a similar decision this week with the energy giant Gazpromone of the main sponsors of the European confederation, with a contract estimated at 40 million euros per yearaccording to the specialized press.
The American team of Haas Formula 1 withdrew from its single-seaters the Russian colors of its main sponsor Uralkali and this week it will announce the future of its deal with this potash giant.
“Russian sponsorship mega-contracts are a recent phenomenon (…) The sport was doing very well without the big Russian sponsors 10 years ago and it will continue to do very well”estimated Terence Burns.
For the French geopolitical scientist lukas aubin, “If UEFA decides to break with Gazprom, it will have an impact, but these are big institutions and we can imagine that another (sponsor) will replace them”.
“They will have no problem finding another great sponsor, knowing that the Champions League is one of the most watched competitions on the planet”he added.
“The world of sport must live without Russian money”he added Hugh Robertson. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have an impact on the sport, but the consequences of inaction or moratoria will be much more serious.”
Source: Ambito
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