Bang!
According to the will of the IOC, Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials should no longer be allowed to take part in international competitions. The background is the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
The head of the International Olympic Committee made this recommendation to all world associations and organizers of sporting events on Monday.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation demanded the same on Monday – independently of the IOC. As the DOSB announced, Russian and Belarusian athletes should no longer be allowed to compete and sports officials of the countries should be suspended from their offices.
“Global sanctions in all areas of society are all the more effective the more social actors participate,” it said. The goal of ending the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible justifies this step, although it also affects athletes who are not responsible for this war. “Sport must also fulfill its responsibility here and accept the corresponding restrictions,” emphasized the DOSB.
The governing body also intends to set up a fund to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian athletes in the wake of Russia’s attack on the neighboring country.
︎ The world football association Fifa excludes Russia from its competitions because of the invasion of Ukraine. This means that the national team from Russia should not take part in the World Cup playoffs in March and also not in the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.
A statement from the world association said: “Fifa and Uefa jointly decided today that all Russian teams, regardless of whether they are national teams or club teams, will be excluded from participating in the competition. This applies to both Fifa and Uefa competitions until further notice.”
Fifa only decided on Sunday that Russia was no longer allowed to host international football competitions on its own territory. Home games of the Russian national team should therefore only take place on neutral ground and without spectators. Now another tightening.
Poland’s football president Cezary Kulesza had previously stated on Twitter that the measures taken on Sunday were not enough for him. Kulesza: “Today’s decision by Fifa is totally unacceptable. Our stance remains unchanged: the Polish national team will NOT play Russia, no matter what name the team plays under.” Poland should have played Russia in the play-offs of the World Cup qualifiers on March 24th.
The Fifa statement, on the other hand, goes on to say: “Football is united and in full solidarity with all affected people in Ukraine. Both presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and quickly so that football can once again be a vector of unity and peace between people.”
Uefa also announced that the cooperation with the Russian sponsor Gazprom will be terminated with immediate effect. Uefa wrote in a statement: “The decision takes effect immediately and includes all existing agreements, including the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024.”
