Impact of Russia-Ukraine War on sports worldwide

Sylvia

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The sports world is responding with strong condemnation to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which erupted Wednesday with aerial strikes and troop invasions.

UEFA is reportedly moving the May 28 Champions League final out of St. Petersburg. Soccer’s governing body in Europe issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine.”

Several sports organizations and figures made similar rebukes.
  • The International Olympic Committee stated it “strongly condemns the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government.” The International Paralympic Committee echoed that sentiment.
  • Second-division Bundesliga team Schalke is removing the name of Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom from its jerseys.
  • Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is facing calls to be stripped of his ownership after leaked documents showed ties to illicit financial activity with Russia.
  • Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel pledged he would not travel to Russia if F1 holds September’s Grand Prix there. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen said that “when a country is at war, it is not right to race there.”
F1 has taken down a page on its website selling tickets for its race in Russia.

World Cup Implications​

The soccer associations of Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, which are all scheduled to play World Cup qualifying matches in Russia in March, stated they “do not consider traveling to Russia and playing football matches there,” in a joint statement.

The Ukraine Premier League has postponed its season for a minimum of 30 days.
 
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Sylvia

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UEFA will no longer host the Champions League final in St. Petersburg after Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, The Associated Press has learned.
An extraordinary meeting of the UEFA executive committee will be held on Friday to discuss the geopolitical crisis and when officials are set to confirm taking the May 28 showpiece game out of Russia, a person with knowledge of the process said on Thursday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.
UEFA did publicly rebuke Russia and said it was dealing with the “situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency” while confirming the meeting for 0900 GMT on Friday.
 

Sylvia

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After close consultation with its stakeholders, FIS has decided that in the interest of the safety of all participants and to maintain the integrity of the World Cup, that all remaining World Cup events scheduled to take place in Russia between now and the end of the 2021-22 season will be cancelled or moved to another location.
 

maatTheViking

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I only have a Danish article as reference, but the Haas Formula 1 team will race with blank car, removing the name, logo and color of their Russian sponsor, Uralkali . Apparently one of the racers of the team is the son of the owner of the company sponsoring, and may be friendly with Putin.

 

text_skate

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IOC EB urges all International Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus


They should take the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian and Belarussian governments into account and give the safety and security of the athletes absolute priority.
The Olympic Truce began seven days before the start of the Olympic Games, on 4 February 2022, and ends seven days after the closing of the Paralympic Games.
 

Sylvia

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… Russia was stripped of the Champions League final, with UEFA replacing St. Petersburg with Paris as host, and Formula One dropping this season’s Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. […]
The climax to the European men’s football season will still be held on May 28 but now at the 80,000-seat Stade de France in the Saint-Denis suburb of the French capital after the decision by UEFA’s executive committee.
 

MacMadame

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Seerek

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Even though they don't take place until November, the European Curling Championships have already been moved from Perm, Russia.

 

misskarne

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To expand more on the Formula 1 situation:

Formula 1 has declared that it is impossible to run the Russian Grand Prix "in the current circumstances" (and you all thought the ISU were prevaricating!). Vettel declared he would not race there, I was much surprised that Verstappen was the next to say it and so quickly. Other drivers are now speaking up, though none of the others have openly declared that they would boycott Sochi - I suppose they don't feel the need to now that F1 has put out its statement.

Haas' title sponsor last year and this year is Uralkali. Dmitry Mazepin owns this company, and his son Nikita got the second seat at Haas in return for the sponsorship $$$. Haas worked overnight to remove the Uralkali decals from their car at pre-season testing and presented a largely white car, with only the Haas logos and the logos of sponsors that Mick Schumacher brings.

I do feel sorry for Nikita, just a little bit (he's a crappy person and a shit driver). He is in an impossible situation. People around F1 keep urging him to speak, seeming not to understand that his father was one of the oligarchs summoned to the meeting with Putin on Wednesday; Nikita himself is still technically part of the Russian military. If Nikita denounced Putin's actions in any way, or if Putin thought Nikita might use his family's power and wealth to speak out against him, Nikita would surely take a short walk out of a tall window. Either way, Nikita is assuredly going to lose his seat (which is no great loss to the grid itself), but people condemning him for not speaking out have missed the mark, I think.
 

marininswife

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David Brooks, the New York Times columnist recently posted that "After apartheid, some South Africans told me financial sanctions were minimally effective but sports sanctions really worked. On top of everything else maybe we should ban Russian teams/athletes."
I agree with him. The sports community needs to unite against this aggression and ban all Russian teams and athletes. No it's not fair to the athletes, but if that's what it takes to wake up the Russian people and get them to overthrow their dictator, so be it. Human lives are more important sports.
 

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