Although at first both FIFA and UEFA were more contemplative since their regulations do not establish the exclusion of a federation and/or team for war reasons, the proliferation of manifestations of repudiation among members of the sports community meant that the resolutions of the most representative entities of world and European football were more drastic and forceful.
A day after the start of the war, UEFA decided to take away from Russia the venue for the European Champions League final, scheduled for May 28 in St. Petersburg, and moved it to Paris. The actions of the European body continued yesterday with the separation of Spartak Moscow from the Europa League, the only Russian club in European competitions, which was to play the round of 16 against Leipzig.
Suspension
The head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, was “concerned” about the military escalation and began a dialogue with the resolute UEFA to suspend the Russian team from international competitions, Qatar 2022 included. The French Football Federation (FFF), for example, was one of the first to rule in favor of the exclusion.
Also the MLS (football soccer) joined the list of countries that refuse to play international matches against Russia. In a statement, the US Soccer Federation (MLS) said that no American team at any level would take the field against Russia until “freedom and peace” returned to Ukraine.
“The United States Soccer Federation stands united with the people of Ukraine and is unequivocal in our denunciation of Russia’s heinous and inhumane invasion,” US Soccer said. “We will not tarnish our global game or disgrace Ukraine by taking the same field as Russia, regardless of the level of competition or the circumstances, until freedom and peace are restored.”
In its first round of sanctions, FIFA imposed on Russia to play under the name “Russian Football Federation”, without a flag or anthem and with matches in neutral stadiums, in all scheduled international competitions. A measure similar to that imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Russia will not play the Women’s Euro Cup in England either and will not be in the first instance of the playoff to Qatar 2022 on March 24 against Poland, a country that rejected the commitment since the beginning of the war, still in neutral territory. The response sent from Warsaw was replicated by other federations such as those of Sweden and the Czech Republic, possible rivals in the final.
Meanwhile, the Russian Football Federation denounced a “discriminatory” measure after the exclusion of its national team from the 2022 World Cup in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, the Russian Federation is “in total disagreement with the decision of FIFA and UEFA to suspend Russian teams” and estimates that this measure “will have a discriminatory effect on a large number of athletes, coaches, employees of clubs or the national team.
other disciplines
The sports condemnation of Russia is not exclusive to soccer because different disciplines reacted to it with more prohibitions.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) demoted Vladimir Putin, and suspended athletes from that country and Belarus.
The IOC withdrew the “Olympic Order”, the entity’s highest distinction, from Putin after the invasion and, in addition, “emphatically” recommended all federations
of the world “not to invite Russian and Belarusian athletes” to international sports competitions.
He clarified that if it is not possible for “time or legal reasons” he urges them to “guarantee that no Russian or Belarusian athlete or sports official can participate under the name of Russia or Belarus.”
“Russian or Belarusian citizens, individually or as a team, should be accepted only as neutrals, without anthems or flags,” completes the IOC statement.
The IOC also stresses that “the Olympic movement is united in its mission to contribute to peace through sport and to unite the world in peaceful competition beyond any political dispute.”
Formula 1 determined, in a meeting with the International Automobile Federation (FIA), to cancel the Sochi Grand Prix, scheduled for September 25, with the endorsement of two world champions, the Dutchman Max Verstappen and the German Sebastian Vettel .
The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) informed the Russian Federation that it will host that country for two rounds of the Nations League (VNL) in June and July, while the Australian swimming federation (Swimming Australia), the Federation International Chess Federation (FIDE), the International Badminton Federation (BWF), the World Karate Federation (WFK) and the Finnish hockey federation have already reported suspensions, as long as there is Russian participation or organization.
On Sunday, Putin was suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation (IJF), the sports entity announced on Sunday.
“Due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announced the suspension of Vladimir Putin’s status as honorary president and international ambassador of the Judo Federation,” the IJF said in a statement.
Protest
Those who raised their voices were the Ukrainian tennis players Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko who lamented the lack of reaction of the WTA women’s circuit to the Russian invasion of their country, and demanded, among other measures, the cancellation of the planned tournaments in Russia.
Tsurenko, 127th in the world ranking, 32, uploaded a protest text in white letters on a black background to Twitter.
The 19-year-old and 54th on the WTA, Kostyuk, meanwhile, posted a similar message on her Instagram account.
“We Ukrainian tennis players would like to express our disappointment at the lack of reaction to the situation in our homeland,” they wrote.
“Our country, Ukraine, is being attacked by a stronger nuclear power,” the two young women continue.
“We demand that the WTA condemn the Russian government from now on, annul all tournaments organized in Russia,” they request in the text, which appeared before Russia’s exclusion from the 2022 World Cup repechage by FIFA.
Other consequences
The Russian invasion had far-reaching consequences throughout professional sports, including commercially.
Schalke O4, a club in the German second division, announced that it had broken its contract with its main sponsor, the Russian gas giant, The entity had already decided last week to remove the Gazprom name from its shirts for the German championship match played on Saturday, two days after the Russian attack on Ukraine. The sponsorship that united the club and the Russian company ended in 2025, and was to give benefits of 9 million euros (10.1 million dollars) per year to Schalke, the club from the city of Gelsenkirchen, a historical place of soccer from the Ruhr area, which was relegated last year to the second division.
In the event of promotion to the Bundesliga, the contract provided for an increase, up to 15 million euros ($16.8 million) per season.
England’s Manchester United terminated its relationship with the aeronautical firm Aeroflot, which means an income of more than 53 million dollars, and the Haas F1 team removed the Uralkali brand promotion from its cars, as well as the colors of the Russian flag on the car driven by Muscovite Nikita Mazepin, whose future in the Grand Circus of world motorsports was up in the air.
Source: Ambito
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