With the exception of the upcoming Paralympic Games, Russian athletes were banned from further sporting competitions around the world and owner Roman Abramovich put the English soccer club Chelsea up for sale.
Biathlon and table tennis were added Wednesday to the list of Olympic sports that have excluded participants from Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine.
However, the International Paralympic Committee said that Russians and Belarusians will be able to compete in the Beijing Games as “neutral athletes”, although they will not be able to wear their national symbols.
Soccer, athletics, basketball and ice hockey, among other sports, marginalized Russians altogether following the International Olympic Committee’s call to exclude Russia and Belarus from the competitions.
But the IOC left open the possibility of athletes participating as neutrals if they could not be expelled on short notice.
The Winter Paralympics open on Friday and several of the Russian athletes are already in the Chinese capital. The International Paralympic Committee managed the arrival of a delegation of Ukrainian athletes.
Other entities have allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to continue competing with neutral status. Such is the case of FINA, governing body for swimming and other aquatic sports, as well as the boxing, gymnastics, fencing and judo federations.
The International Judo Federation, which until last week had Russian President Vladimir Putin as its “honorary president,” argued Wednesday that the IOC’s request to exclude Russia and Belarus is “unjustified” as it could stir up rancor.
The restrictions have been criticized by Russian politicians, as well as striker Artem Dzyuba, the all-time top scorer for the Russian national soccer team.
The Zenit Saint Petersburg player wrote on Instagram that he is “against war. War is terrible.” But he claimed that sanctions in sports were a type of discrimination.
“I am against discrimination based on nationality. I am not ashamed to be Russian. I am proud to be Russian and I don’t understand why athletes have to suffer now,” said Dzyuba.
Britain’s motor sport governing body on Wednesday banned Russians from racing in their country, throwing into doubt driver Nikita Mazepin’s participation in Formula One’s British Grand Prix in July.
The FIA said on Tuesday that Russian drivers such as Mazepin will be able to compete but will not be allowed to display the national colours. His Haas team will be able to put back the decoration with the colors of the Russian flag and that they eliminated during last week’s tests in Barcelona.
Motorsport in the UK went further and banned drivers and teams from Russia and Belarus from the country. The FIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what it will do when its provision conflicts with a country’s governing body.
The invasion of Ukraine has also led to changes in sports business ties with Russia.
Abramovich, the Russian billionaire tycoon, confirmed that he will put Chelsea up for sale and promised that the proceeds from the operation will go to a fund for the victims of the war in Ukraine. The British government has received multiple calls to sanction Abramovich and other wealthy Russians.
Everton, another English club, suspended sponsorship deals with a company owned by Alisher Usmanov, a Russian billionaire who was sanctioned by the European Union last week.
Next weekend’s Premier League matches will kick off with a display of solidarity towards Ukraine, with the captains wearing blue and yellow armbands, the colors of the flag.
EA Sports, the American video game company, announced that it will remove Russian clubs and the national team from its popular FIFA series, as well as the Russian and Belarusian hockey teams from its NHL series.
There has also been an exodus of foreign players and coaches on Russian teams. Former Norwich manager Daniel Farke stepped down from coaching Russian club FC Krasnodar on Wednesday, a day after Markus Gisdol left Lokomotiv Moscow. Defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy, who represented Ukraine in two European championships, terminated his contract with Zenit, with the club citing family reasons.
