Displaced competitions, starting with the prestigious Champions League final, Polish and Swedish refusal to face Russia, athletes declared persona non grata, sponsors erased or called into question: the Russian invasion of Ukraine is already having serious consequences on the professional sports.
Saint Petersburg deprived of the Champions League…
Four years after the World Cup, Saint Petersburg was preparing to return to the center of attention of football fans. But UEFA very quickly announced that it was moving the Champions League final, the summit 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. A contract estimated at 40 million euros per year.
… and Sochi from F1
Sochi is a symbolic place of “soft power” Russian in the sports field. Host city of the Winter Games in 2014, it has been hosting the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix since that same year. But this will not be the case this season, since the competition’s promoter, Formula One, canceled it seven months before it was held.
The American team Haas for its part questioned its partnership with its Russian sponsor Uralkali, not displaying the Russian colors on its single-seaters. And the future in F1 of Nikita Mazepinson of a leader of Uralkali, who was to drive one of the two single-seaters, seems questioned.
The “non” Polish and Swedish
The International Football Federation (Fifa) has not yet given up the matches of its schedule scheduled in Russia. But she was overtaken by Poland, to the great satisfaction of her star Robert Lewandowski : it refuses to face Russia on March 24 in Moscow in the dam of the World Cup-2022. Potential opponents of the Russians in the next match, the Swedes also announced that they would not face them.
The Premier League and its Russian acquaintances
The Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovitchowner of Chelsea, announced on Saturday that he was confiding “to the Trustees of the Chelsea Charitable Foundation the management of Chelsea FC“, an indentation that is still rather vague.
Chelsea aren’t the only club with Russian connections. Manchester United announced on Friday that they have “revoked” his 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 its shirts.
The IOC condemns
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) has announced the cancellation of all its competitions in Russia by the end of the season”in the interest of the safety of all participants“.
Anthems and flags banned in biathlon
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. “The Ukrainian flag will be raised at events to honor the Ukrainian team“, explained the authority, informed of the package of Ukraine for the end of the season.
Boxing: no competitions in Russia
The four major boxing bodies – IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO – announced on Saturday that they would not allow championships in Russia. “At a time when the world is calling for a ceasefire, our organizations have decided not to 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 press release.
No French at the Volleyball Worlds in Russia
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 confirmed that the Blues will not participate in the tournament if it was 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.
Russians and Belarusians non grata
The Swedish government on Saturday called 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 territory for the events in their respective countries next month.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel also warned that “the national selections of partner countries” of 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.
Relocated Russian basketball players
With the exception of the matches putting them directly to grips, the Russian clubs aligned in Euroleague basketball (Saint-Petersburg, Kazan and CSKA Moscow) will have to play their Euroleague home matches abroad. Ditto for European club football matches.
