Russia takes a big hit to its sport after invading Ukraine

After dithering after the first days of the invasion of Ukraine, the world sports institutions reacted definitively this Monday to punish Russia firmly and remove clubs, national teams and athletes from top-level competitions such as the Qatar World Cup 2022.

Finally, FIFA, UEFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) succumbed to the worldwide outcry that cried out for action against Russian sport and struck a blow that will do a lot of damage to a country that has been invading for five days it has provoked a terrible war with still unpredictable consequences.

The IOC’s call to all sports organizations in the world to veto Belarus and Russia in any international competition, was very relevant to the harsh reaction of many of the bodies that run global sport.

One of the most notorious decisions, the expulsion of Russia from the World Cup, came after 48 hours of pressure on FIFA and UEFA led by Poland, which on March 24 had to face the team led by Valeri Karpin in the semifinals of the playoff to reach the World Cup.

The first measure of the body chaired by Gianni Infantino (FIFA) startled the Polish federation. 24 hours ago, FIFA decreed that the game would be played in a neutral country, behind closed doors and without an anthem or flag for Russia, which would also lose its official name to be called ‘Russian Football Union’.

Poland, with Robert Lewandowski and the president of his federation Cezary Kulesza, led the rebellion against these measures. Kulesza, through a social network, was forceful: “FIFA’s decision is totally unacceptable. We are not interested in participating in this game of appearances. Our position remains intact: the Polish national team WILL NOT PLAY against Russia, regardless of the name of the team,” he wrote.

Kulesza was joined by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny challenging FIFA: “Let’s see if he has the balls to punish Russia by eliminating it from the World Cup,” he said. And, along with Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, protagonists of the other semi-final tie, they also positioned themselves against facing Russia in a possible final.

With this scenario, FIFA and UEFA finally took the final step and punished Russia. In a joint statement, they announced their elimination from the Qatar World Cup and the departure of Spartak Moscow from the Europa League. With these measures, Poland will automatically go to the final and Leipzig, Spartak’s rival, to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

In the world of football, Schalke’s decision was also resounding, which broke its sponsorship contract with the Russian company Gazprom until 2025. The German club will lose nine million euros a year, which was going to be 15 million in the case of being promoted to First Division.

His measure, symbolic, was yet another in the bulk of sporting decisions against Russia. Later, Gazprom was also singled out by UEFA, which decided to end its association with the energy company in all competitions.

Basketball was not left out. The Euroleague joined FIFA and UEFA and, after the meeting of the Executive Board of Shareholders, announced the suspension of the participation of the three Russian teams (CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan and Zenit Saint Petersburg) in the Euroleague and Lokomotiv Kuban at the Eurocup. If the war does not progress towards its dissolution, all regular season games against Russian teams will be cancelled.

In addition, several players from those teams, because of the Russian invasion, have “fled” due to the aggression against Ukraine. The Georgian Tornike Shengelia, the Danish Gabriel Lundberg, the German Johannes Voigtmann, the Lithuanian Marius Grigonis, the Ukrainian nationalized Russian Joel Bolomboy and the American Daniel Hackett, have left CSKA waiting for the situation to improve.

And, at Zenit, Shabazz Napier has been confirmed out and will soon be followed by Tyson Carter, Jordan Loyd, Billy Baron, Conner Frankamp, ​​Alex Poythress, Mateusz Ponitka, Jordan Mickey, Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Arturas Gudaitis. Without a doubt, the blow to Russian basketball has been very hard and also economically, since the Euroleague froze its marketing relationship with the Russian VTB Bank.

In the world of motorsport, if the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix was already announced 48 hours ago, the FIA ​​called an emergency meeting to “discuss matters related to the current crisis in Ukraine”. This Tuesday, new measures are expected that may affect pilots.

Like a waterfall, other sports followed the COI effect. The International Badminton Federation (BWF) announced the cancellation of all scheduled tournaments in Russia and Belarus; World Taekwondo, the international federation of this sport, retired Vladimir Putn the honorary black belt of 9th dan; and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) called for the expulsion of Russia and Belarus from all European competitions.

These are just some examples of those that are sure to come. The list of sports that will ban Russia will probably be longer. At the moment, those who monopolize the most spotlights have hit the table with their fist: football and basketball, hand in hand with UEFA, FIFA and the Euroleague and pushed by the IOC, have spoken. Russia will be invisible.