The IOC reacted late. On Friday afternoon, after many sports associations had already drawn the first conclusions from the Russian attack on Ukraine despite the silence of the Olympians, the International Olympic Committee sent out a statement. All sports associations are asked to postpone or cancel planned events in Russia and Belarus. The governments of both countries would have broken the Olympic peace, which in this case is not only a symbolic one, but was only supported by a United Nations resolution in December 2021.
That’s why Russian and Belarusian flags and anthems are now also banned; However, the Russian national symbols are still banned from international sporting events anyway because of the state doping penalty. The IOC obviously regards Belarus as complicit in the war, and Russian troops invaded Ukraine via Belarusian territory. Nonetheless, as of now, Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to take part in the Paralympic Games, which begin March 4 in Beijing. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was only assured of “full support”.
The European football union Uefa had previously decided to move the Champions League final from Saint Petersburg to Paris and decided that no international games would be played in Ukraine and Russia until further notice. For the third time in a row, the final of the most important club competition will not be played at the originally planned location, twice because of the pandemic (Lisbon and Porto instead of Istanbul), now because of the war in Ukraine.
The decision also acutely affects the German club RB Leipzig, who were drawn as opponents in the round of 16 in the Europa League Spartak Moscow, which in this case not only means that coach Domenico Tedesco meets his ex-employer. The second leg is to take place on March 17 – where is completely open. When asked by SZ, the Russian association announced that it would play a game on neutral ground, although it did not support Uefa’s decision. Whether Spartak can play at all as a Russian club is another matter. There are boycott and expulsion demands on Uefa, but so far no signs of such a step.
So far, Uefa has not said a word about the Russian state energy company Gazprom, one of its largest sponsors. How there are the connections and dependencies can be seen in the person of Alexander Dyukov. On Friday, in his capacity as President of the Russian Football Association, he condemned the decision to withdraw the final from Saint Petersburg, but the 54-year-old also sits on the Uefa Executive Committee, the association’s most important decision-making body – and is the head of “Gazprom Neft”, the The energy giant’s oil division, which is already on the US sanctions list.
Man with many offices: the Russian Alexander Dyukov.
(Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/dpa)
Uefa’s contract with Gazprom runs until 2024, and members of the European Parliament have already called on the association to end the cooperation, which would also apply during the European Championship in Germany. Peter Peters, DFB presidential candidate, said the Frankfurt General Newspaper, Uefa must reconsider the partnership. “We cannot now hide behind contractual obligations or claims for damages,” said Peters. Otherwise, decision-makers held back on the topic.
The context of Peter’s statements also includes the fact that he was CFO at FC Schalke 04 when the club began its relationship with the Russian group in 2007. The club has currently only banned the lettering from the jersey, but no further steps have been decided in Gelsenkirchen. Manchester United, on the other hand, announced that they no longer want to sponsor Aeroflot, the Russian state airline.
Formula 1 announced on Friday that “under the current circumstances” it would not drive in Sochi, Russia, in the coming season. This was surprising given that the racing series is not usually squeamish about its venues, with the opening two races taking place in the autocracies of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Since the race was not scheduled to take place until September 25th, it was initially unclear what exactly “under the current circumstances” means. In any case, the Sochi organizer Rosgonki announced directly that the tickets would remain valid for the time being despite the decision. You never know.
Mick Schumacher’s Haas racing team is affected in a different way. Instead of the white, blue and red livery of the sponsor Uralkali, a Russian fertilizer manufacturer, the cars drove in white during tests on Friday. It was said that the separation from the sponsor was being checked, but the Haas pilot Nikita Masepin is the son of the Uralkali owner Dimitri Masepin.
This is how the Haas normally drives – with Russian colors under its nose. Here Mick Schumacher.
(Photo: image)
So far, there have been no concrete steps or announcements from the world football association Fifa. Condemn the violence by Russia, we will monitor the situation. The association says no more. Time is of the essence here. As early as March 24th, Poland is scheduled to take part in the World Cup qualifying playoffs in Moscow. The Polish association had already announced that it would not be going to Russia. Sweden and the Czech Republic, who could play Russia in a possible next round, also joined. Instead of making a decision here, Fifa suspended the associations from Kenya and Zimbabwe on Thursday. There the government had interfered in association matters and that was forbidden.
