The world is taken aback by the recent events that have been going on in Ukraine for the last 4-5 days. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian troops to invade the neighboring nation and they seem to have no plans to retreat until Ukraine surrenders or agrees to sit down for a discussion. The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv has already fallen to the Russian troops and although the people of Ukraine have made it very clear that they won’t surrender, the situation in the country is extremely worrying.
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Almost every other country is supporting Ukraine and condemning Vladimir Putin for his uncalled act of aggression. With it, the NATO nations have also levied various sanctions against Russia and have planned to stop them by the use of Political methods.
As a result, Russia and its people are being impacted as collateral damage. As it now stands, Russia’s sports sector, which is deemed to be one of the best in the world, had not stayed unharmed as well.
Various International sports communities have already banned Russia indefinitely until they stop the act of aggression upon Ukraine. In this article, we will be discussing how the various International Sports committees have reacted to the incident and also some of the bold steps FIFA, UEFA & IOC have taken against Russia and Russian athletes.
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UEFA bans Russian teams
There have been many Russian football teams that took part in the various UEFA competitions over the years and many of them are very popular – like Zenit, Dynamo Moscow, CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Spartak Moscow, etc. However, following the recent incidents, UEFA has banned these teams from taking part in any of their tournaments until further notice.
The most affected will be Spartak Moscow who has qualified for the Quarterfinals of the Europa League. But now they will be unable to play the match and their opponents RB Leipzig will probably qualify for the Semis directly.
UEFA also cancels its €40 million a year sponsorship deal with Russian oil company Gazprom
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UEFA has also ended its partnership with the Russian energy corporation Gazprom due to the events. The UEFA Champions League final which was originally set to take place in the Russian city of St. Petersburg will now be held at Paris’ Parc des Princes stadium.
FIFA bans Russia as well
After a lengthy discussion with UEFA, FIFA has finally decided to ban Russia from its competitions with immediate effect as well. FIFA and UEFA have decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,” a joint statement issued by FIFA and UEFA on Monday said.
Russia was set to play against Poland in the World Cup playoffs for a shot at qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, as Russia is banned from FIFA now, they will probably have to directly promote Poland to the next round directly.
International Olympic Committee bans Russia
The International Olympic Committee which is responsible for organizing the Olympic games and taking every decision regarding it has decided to ban ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) from competing in any of their competitions under its flag. Their issue on 25th February stated clearly that they will not be organizing any sporting event in Russia or Belarus in near future.
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Besides, they recommended not to allow any Russian or Belarusian athlete to participate in any of their competitions. However, this will be a very big step and needs further discussion.
The IOC President concluded the statement by the quote, “Give peace a chance.”
How has Russia replied to the bans
Well, after being banned by so many International Sports committees, Russia obviously did not sit back quietly and they have come up with a statement of their own.
In their statement, they said that the Russian Football Union disagrees with the decision of FIFA and UEFA to ban the Russian teams. They also confirmed that they were going to challenge the decision of FIFA and UEFA as the ban they imposed violates the International Sports Law.
They also stated that the imposed ban is discriminatory and affects the lives of millions of Russian athletes, fans, coaches, and club employees.
