- Pardan Ron & Simon Stone
- BBC Sport
Photo credit, Reuters
Demonstrations of support for Ukraine have erupted in football matches since Russia began its occupation of the country last Thursday.
FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russian football clubs and national teams from all matches after the country invaded Ukraine.
The World and European Football Associations have announced that they will ban international matches until further notice.
This means that the Russian men’s team will not play in their World Cup play – offs next month and that the women’s team has been banned from this summer’s Euro 2022 match.
Spartak Moscow have also been eliminated from the Europa League, advancing their round-16 rivals RB Leipzig to the quarter-finals.
UEFA has also terminated its sponsorship of Russian energy giant Gazprom.
“Football is fully integrated here and in full solidarity with all those who are suffering in Ukraine,” FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement.
“Both presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly, so that football can once again become a vehicle for unity and peace among the people.”
FIFA and UEFA have intervened since Russia launched a military occupation of neighboring Ukraine last Thursday with the support of Belarus.
The Russian men’s team will face Poland in the World Cup play – off on March 24.
The Russian football governing body said it “disagreed” with the RFU decision and would challenge it “in accordance with international sports law”. Spartak described Moscow’s decision as “shattering” and tweeted: “We believe that sports should be about building bridges, even in the most difficult times, not burning them down.”
FIFA has previously ruled that Russia’s next game in the Neutral Territory should be played in the name of the Russian Football Union, without the flag or national anthem.
However, the announcement drew criticism – and Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, along with England, Northern Ireland, Wales, as well as Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden, refused to play against Russia.
As the two countries face off in the FIFA Cup play-off on March 24, Scottish FA President Rod Petrie on Monday sent a letter to his Ukrainian rival “to send a message of support, friendship and unity.”
With the 2022 Champions League final set to take place in St Petersburg on May 28, many clubs have moved to Paris to secede from Russia.
Manchester United have terminated their sponsorship deal with national airline Aeroflot, while Bundesliga club Schalke have canceled their partnership with Gazprom, the main sponsor, following the removal of the Russian energy company logo from their shirts.
Conflict in Ukraine: What are sanctions?
Russia are in Northern Ireland’s qualifying group for the European Under – 21 Championship and their meeting in March will be canceled.
Speaking on Monday, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte said: “The whole world must stand together and show. [qu’il est] He is strong in the face of the foolishness of the people. “
He added: “I think it’s fair to express our disappointment at the stupidity of some of the decisions. Football and UEFA need to stand together and show that they are firm.”
Dan Ron, rThat’s itBBC Sports Chief Actor
This is the strongest action taken by the international football community to date.
Russia is rapidly shrinking to the level of a mockery in international sports. Of course, the move comes after allegations surfaced on Sunday that Russia did not go far enough to allow it to continue playing under the name “RFU” while banning FIFA’s flags and anthems.
The IOC lobbied football, recommending a total ban on all sports in Russia and Belarus.
This will no doubt inspire other sports to follow the example of football.
Some say the IOC could have gone further, saying, “This is a decision we make to order all sports to ban Russian athletes.”
Whether they thought they had a legitimate reason to do so is another matter.
Some will talk about the Games in Sochi in 2014 and the World Cup in 2018, and whether Putin was able to host Russia, if it was too late.
Sanctions are necessary to protect the integrity of global sport – IOC
The IOC has called on sports governing bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes “to protect the integrity of global sporting events and the safety of all participants.”
They said the governments of those countries had violated the Olympic agreement.
“While athletes from Russia and Belarus may continue to participate in sports, many athletes from Ukraine are barred from doing so because of attacks on their country,” the IOC said in a statement.
The International Paralympic Committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss Russia as the Paralympic Winter Games begin two days later, March 4-13.
The British Paralympic Committee has demanded that Russians and Belarusians be excluded from the Games.
The British Olympic Association and Germany’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) have called for the immediate withdrawal of Russia and Belarus from international sports.
The IOC said in its recommendations that these athletes should not compete in the name of Russia or Belarus and should be classified as neutral, when they could not be barred from competing for organizational or legal reasons.
The Russian Olympic Committee disagreed with the IOC, saying the decision was “contrary to the IOC’s regulatory documents and charter. [olympique]”.
what’s going on Inn AnotherThe SportsThe ?
Photo credit, Getty Images
He is closely associated with Russian Grand Prix President Vladimir Putin
Russia’s Formula 1 Grand Prix, scheduled for September 25 in Sochi, was canceled last week.
The FIA, the sports governing body, will meet on Tuesday to “discuss issues related to the current crisis in Ukraine.”
World Rugby has suspended Russia and Belarus from international and cross-border matches “until further notice”.
“We are in solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” said President Bill Beaumont.
On Friday, Rugby Europe announced that it would suspend all matches played on Russian soil, which was approved by the World Governing Body.
However, the Russian women’s team played without their flag or national anthem at the Rugby Europe Championships (REC) in Spain on Saturday.
The home game of the Russian men’s team against the Netherlands next month has already been postponed as part of the REC, and the team was scheduled to play in Portugal on March 19.
The Badminton World Governing Body (BWF) responded to Russia’s occupation of Ukraine by canceling all tournaments in Russia and Belarus and banning national flags and anthems from both countries.
“The BWF will continue to closely monitor the situation and consult in advance with our partners in the international sports movement to discuss other options for strengthening measures against the governments of Russia and Belarus,” she said.
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation has asked the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the governing body of the sport, to exclude Russia from hosting Belarus and to ban Russia from individual and team tournaments.
Ukrainian Elena Svitolina said she would refuse to play until Russian or Belarusian players were considered “neutral athletes.”
World No. 15 Anastasia Potopova will face Russia at the Monterey Open this week, but she has threatened to step down if the Women’s Tennis Association does not take action.
At a press conference during the Mexican Open on Friday, Medvedev, a Russian ATP world number one, said on Monday that “peace around the world” should be promoted.
ITF said: “This is a rapidly evolving situation; we are in active discussions with the tennis family and the ITF Board to decide and agree on our next steps.”
The International Equestrian Federation has announced that international competitions in Russia and Belarus will prevent athletes and officials from both countries from participating in all competitions.
The Governing Body of Ice Hockey, IIHF, has suspended all Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs from all its competitions and events.
They also knocked Russia out of the 2023 World Junior Championships.
Ukraine’s men’s foil team refuses to face Russia in the Fencing World Cup in Cairo on Sunday.
Ukrainian Claude Younes told BBC Radio 5 Live that he and his teammates now intend to return home and defend their country.
“I knew it before the match [que je ne ferais pas d’escrime contre eux]. I told my teammates about it, they supported me and they said they would do it, ”Younes said.
He added that he and his allies would fight if necessary: ”Of course this is our country, this is my country. I have to fight for him. I am defending my territory.”
On Monday, British Cultural Secretary Nadine Doris and Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston discussed the situation in Ukraine with several governing bodies of the British sports community, including the Premier League, the Football Association, the UK Sport and the British Olympic Association.
He urged the sports community to continue the “visible signs of solidarity” with Ukraine and said it planned to talk to international rivals later this week to mobilize more support to exclude Russia from international sports.
Travel fan. Freelance analyst. Proud problem solver. Infuriatingly humble zombie junkie.