This Is How the Sports World Reacts to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

The military operation launched by Russia on Ukraine has cast a shadow over sports of all kinds, and had disastrous consequences for Russian sports and companies; some of them appeared during the past few days, and others are expected to be announced in the following hours or days.

With Russian forces penetrating deeper into Ukraine, sports institutions moved quickly to deny Russia hosting major competitions, where Saint Petersburg lost the opportunity to host the Champions League final, and the Formula 1 car race in Sochi will also not be held as part of the World Championship.

Many Western athletes also expressed their regret over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling on everyone to stop war and conflicts in order to restore peace to the European continent.

It is noteworthy that since Putin took power in 1999, Russia has increasingly invested in the sports industry, and has hosted many major international events and competitions, while Russian companies have signed major sports sponsorship deals, and Russian businessmen have invested heavily in European football clubs.

Football World Uprising

The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) decided in an official statement on February 25, 2022, to move the final match of the European Champions League, scheduled for May 28, from Saint Petersburg, Russia, to the French capital, Paris.

It also decided to hold the matches of the Russian and Ukrainian clubs and teams in the European championships in neutral stadiums instead of their stadiums until further notice.

In addition, UEFA is studying the decision to deprive Russia of hosting the European Super Cup in 2023, which is the annual match between the Champions League and European League champions.

These decisions came at an emergency meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee at the invitation of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.

According to media reports, UEFA is facing increasing pressure to end its ties with Russian energy company Gazprom, which is the main sponsor of European football, including the Champions League.

On her part, Nadine Dorries, the UK's Secretary of State for Sport, welcomed the recent decisions of UEFA, according to Reuters.

“Russia should not be allowed to take advantage of sporting and cultural events on the world stage, to legitimize its unprovoked, premeditated and needless attack against a sovereign democratic state,” Dorries said.

With the escalation of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the level of criticism and sports demands increased, as the sports federations in Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic announced their refusal to face Russia next month in the qualifying playoff for the World Cup in Qatar during the months of November and December.

Russia is set to host Poland in the World Cup qualifiers semi-finals on March 24, if its team wins, it will host Sweden or the Czech Republic in the play-off final on the 29th of the same month.

This move is likely to lead to the Russian national team being deprived of participating in the European qualifiers for the World Cup, and replacing it with either Hungary or Slovakia, according to The Sun newspaper.

The International Olympic Committee had asked the international sports federations to move or cancel sports events planned to be held in Russia or Belarus, and appealed not to raise the flags of the two countries and not to play the national anthem for them in international sports forums.

In turn, the Ukrainian Football League decided on February 24, 2022, to stop the league championship and all sports activity in the country for at least 30 days.

Some European clubs have also taken action and started taking punitive measures against Russian companies with which they have sponsorship agreements.

Schalke 04, a club in the German second division, decided to cancel its sponsorship contract with the Russian company, Gazprom, removed the company's name from the team's shirts , and wrote the team's name instead.

The English Premier League club, Manchester United, said that it withdrew from a sponsorship contract with Russian Airlines (Aeroflot) worth 40 million pounds.

The Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, decided to give up the management of the club's affairs in favor of the Chelsea Foundation.

This decision came due to the British sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of the war that Moscow is waging against Ukraine.

 

Sporting Events Canceled

The repercussions of the Russian war against Ukraine were not limited to football only, but also extended to other sports.

In addition, the Organizing Committee of the Formula One World Championship announced the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, which was scheduled to be held at the Sochi circuit on September 25, 2022.

“F1, the FIA and the teams have discussed the position of our sport, and we have concluded that it is impossible to organize the Russian Grand Prix in the current situation,” a statement from the commission said on its official F1 website on February 24.

Both former F1 champion Sebastian Vettel and last title holder Max Verstappen said it was a mistake to hold a race in Russia.

The boxing governing bodies, the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association and others, announced that they will not approve the holding of any competitions in Russia.

At the Fencing World Cup in Cairo, the Ukrainian men's team refused to participate against Russia. “This is our protest against the war. We cannot duel against them while our families are in danger and everyone is in danger,” the Ukrainian team said.

Five Ski World Cup competitions scheduled for the weekend and next month were also canceled or moved from Russia.

In another context, basketball also had a share of the decisions, so the European Basketball League demanded that the matches that were to be held in Russia be transferred to other countries, this follows a meeting of the officials of the 18 clubs participating in the tournament, which was held on February 25.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) also postponed the 2023 World Cup qualifiers between the Netherlands and Russia on February 27 and Great Britain and Belarus on February 28.

Meanwhile, Barcelona basketball team refrained from traveling to Russia to face Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow on February 25 and 27 in the Euro-league.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) canceled a World Water Polo League match in St Petersburg next month, while the synchronized swimming and diving competitions in Kazan, scheduled for next April, were canceled.

On its part, the International Judo Federation (IJF) announced on February 27 that it had suspended its honorary president and ambassador, Vladimir Putin (President of Russia) because of the war, and that's two days after it canceled a major tournament in Kazan, which was scheduled for May 20-22.

Ukrainian Sports Stars

“We will not leave the country no matter what,” “Death to Putin,” “We want to live in peace,” said the comments of sports stars in Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion of their country.

Russian Fyodor Smolov, 32, player of the football club Dynamo Moscow, led the scene after he became the first Russian player to publicly express his opinion on the military offensive that his country launched against Ukraine.

Smolov wrote a post on his official account on Instagram, declaring his opposition to the start of his country's military operation against Ukraine.

Manchester City player, Ukrainian Oleksandr Zinchenko, posted a picture of the Russian president via his official account on Instagram, wishing the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian footballer Serhiy Rybalka also posted a photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting: “He is a human being. He will die in the end.”

The former world champion in judo, Darya Bilodid, also spoke about the Russian war, via her official account on Instagram, saying: “Russia started bombing us, and the war started. We want peace, we want to live!”

On her part, the best tennis player in Ukraine, Elina Svitolina, said via her official account on Instagram: “I am proud to be Ukrainian. Let us unite in this difficult time for peace and the future of our country.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky, 36, announced his joining the military reserve forces in his country's army, which is confronting the Russian military operation.

In a video posted online, former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko appealed to the world to stop the conflict in his country, Ukraine, and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. 

Wladimir vowed to fight with his brother Vitali, the former world heavyweight champion and the current mayor of Kyiv, against the Russian invasion.

 

Is Politics Related to Sports?

In this regard, a report by the Eurosport website, in its French version, monitored the viewpoint of the sports political specialist, Jean-Baptiste Guegan, on the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on sport.

“Sports will be at the forefront of the fields affected by what is happening. The first tangible manifestations of the deterioration of relations and the consequences of the war will appear in the field of sports,” Guegan said.

“It is difficult to explain what will happen in the long term, as long as the aggressive tendencies of Russian President Vladimir Putin remain completely unclear,” he added.

However, Guigan ruled out the scenario of FIFA's exclusion of Russia from the world of sports in general, explaining the reason for this, it goes back to the common past between Russia and FIFA.

“The recent transfer of matches, tournaments and sporting events from Russia has security reasons to preserve the safety of participants and is not linked to sanctions,” he pointed out.

For example, UEFA decided to move matches of Russian and Ukrainian clubs to neutral venues until further notice, this negates the intent to completely exclude Russia, according to Guegan.

It should be noted that UEFA and other sports federations in Europe and abroad adhere to several criteria, including not mixing political matters in sports competition, which prevents it from punishing clubs and teams within a package of sanctions against the state itself.