Nur not taking any chances. Correct. It would be irresponsible these days to let athletes in competitions suffer from the war of aggression waged by Russian President Putin. Especially since the Ukrainians have other interests than sport at the moment. They fight or run for their lives. In view of this certainty, is it enough to speak halfway distanced from protecting one’s own athletes as “top priority” or to recommend withdrawing from competitions in Russia, as organized German sport did more or less in concert on Thursday?
No. This reaction is too weak. If sport, the associations, the clubs took their often-cited values more seriously, then there would have to be tangible solidarity with Ukraine immediately and not the continuation of the miserable wasting of time with a view to the manageable sporting events of international format in Russia this year .
The international sports community’s means of showing Putin and his followers the limits are extremely limited. But it would at least provide moral support to the Ukrainians in their time of need. And it would hurt the sporting nation of Russia if its teams and athletes were not allowed to take part in international competitions until further notice. Or should the game, whether in football, basketball, handball, in winter sports, soon in athletics, go on as if nothing terrible was happening? Do we seriously want to boycott sport in Russia, but cheerfully expect Ukrainian professionals abroad to compete against Russian ones?
It is naïve to believe that there could be a halfway impressive and effective solidarity of international sport. It has to do with the power of Russian sport. His influence in international bodies has grown so enormously over the years that even the brazen state doping that culminated during the 2014 Winter Games, the lies after the exposure, the destruction of evidence only led to mostly ridiculous penalties.
Clubs and associations are too dependent on Russian sponsors, on the mercy of the oligarch squad in sports with a direct line to the Kremlin. Instead of becoming concrete, they flee into empty phrases, spread their “concerns”, “strongest condemnations” or announce “observations”. It’s time they stopped lying to themselves and selling themselves as neutral, non-political institutions. It’s time for everyone to take a risk. That would be a lot of work, cost a lot of money, but not – as is probably the case with some Ukrainian athletes in uniform – life.
The Champions League final was scheduled to take place in the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg.
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Image: Reuters
