Athletics, volleyball and skating join the rain of sanctions on Russian sport

After the call made on Monday by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from international sporting events, the rain of sanctions continued on Tuesday: the international athletics federation, World Athletics, excluded athletes from both countries from all their competitions, the organization of the Volleyball World Cup has been withdrawn from Russia, and its skaters will not be able to compete “until further notice”.

With his call tonot to invite or allow the participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes and official representatives in international competitions” and the withdrawal of any Olympic distinction from its top officials, including Vladimir Putin, the IOC has broken with its long tradition of not intervening in political or geopolitical debates.

FIFA and UEFA reacted immediately, excluding Russia from the World Cup, in which they should have played the play-off against Poland on March 24.

After a long silence, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) announced that it was going to entrust the organization of the World Cup, scheduled for August and September, to another country.

The FIVB was under pressure after France and Poland, Olympic and world champions respectively, announced they would boycott the competition if the venue was not changed.

Russian skaters, who won six Olympic medals at the Beijing Games, including two gold, will no longer be able to compete, a decision “with immediate effect” and taken “until further notice” according to the International Skating Union (ISU), which also regulates speed skating and short-track.

And after the decision of World Athletics, no Russian will be able to take part in the World Championships in Belgrade, from March 18 to 20, nor in the World Championships outdoors in Eugene, in the United States, in July.

The less radical FINA

Badminton, skiing, rugby, ice hockey: Russians are excluded from many sports. There will be no more boxing matches in a country that has already been deprived of its Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi and the Champions League final, two world-class events.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA), which had already canceled all competitions on Russian soil, has followed the IOC’s recommendations in a less radical way: Russians will be able to continue to compete individually, in no case under the Russian or Belarusian flags. .

Tennis is another discipline in which the Russians are a world power. The WTA and ATP tournaments at Indian Wells in California are approaching and the organizers have not yet made a decision. This has upset Elina Svitolina and other Ukrainian players who are surprised by the WTA’s silence, in contrast to its reaction in the Peng Shuai case.

Registered in the Monterrey tournament, Svitolina refused to play against the Russian Anastasia Potapova and warned that she would maintain that position as long as the tennis institutions did not follow the IOC’s recommendations to accept “Russian and Belarusian citizens only if they compete (individually) as neutral athletes” without representing their country.

The Russians Daniil Medvedev, world number one, Andrey Rublev and Anastasya Pavlyochenkova as well as the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, number two in the world, are some of the great stars of the tennis world.

In addition, some Russian businessmen who have invested in sports are targeted by Western economic sanctions. Among them, the Russian-Uzbek Alisher Usmanov, patron of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) and with a reputation for being close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who announced on Tuesday that he was leaving his functions.

What is the legal basis?

The spectacular and historical positioning of the IOC caught numerous federations by surprise, reveals under anonymity, the high position of one of them.

Sports institutions are concerned about the fragility of its legal basis, while Russia denounced its “discriminatory” nature and hinted that they could protest, especially before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

According to the senior official, the federations “financially dependent on the IOC stand firm, the others raise questions about the form, which is very bad: we do neither communication nor politics, and there are rules to respect”.

Although Russian clubs have been suspended from the Euroleague, the flagship competition for European basketball, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is going to “publish their position, which will be based on the law and the statutes”, reveals one of its managers.

Another decision that is expected is that of the Haas Formula 1 team, whose main sponsor is the Russian giant Uralkali, and the International Cycling Union (UCI) regarding the Gazprom-VéloRus team, which should participate in the Tirreno- Adriatic (from March 7 to 13) and Milan-San Remo (March 19).

At the same time, the global sports equipment giant Adidas suspended its sponsorship with the Russian Football Federation.

Time is also running out for the Paralympic Games which start on Friday. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) plans to rule on Wednesday on this matter.