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Posted on: Tuesday, March 1, 2022 – 4:32 PM | Last update: Tuesday, March 1, 2022 – 4:32 PM
The Russian-Ukrainian war that has been going on in Eastern Europe for several days has put an end to the application of the principle that has nothing to do with politics in sports, which was established by the various sports federations for years, by taking decisive decisions and strong penalties, reaching the extent of stopping the activity and banning Russian clubs and teams.
The strict new decisions that were issued over the past 24 hours have brought the Russian sport into a predicament, isolation and penalties from which it will suffer for a long time as a result of political decisions that have plunged the country and the world into a tunnel, where everyone is waiting to get out of it and the crisis to be resolved.
– football –
With lightning speed, the International and European Federations responded to the pressures and demands that took place over the past two days, and decided in a joint statement on Monday evening, to exclude Russia from their competitions, whether at the level of teams or clubs, until further notice.
According to this step, the Russian team will be excluded from participating in the qualifying play-off for the 2022 World Cup, as it was scheduled to face its Polish counterpart this March, and in the event of its victory, it will face the winner of the Sweden-Czech match, but the three teams issued statements during the past days that announced Her refusal to confront the Russian bear, and the teams of England, America and Wales joined them.
This step will also result in the exclusion of the Russian women’s team from participating in Euro 2022, with the exclusion of Spartak Moscow from the European League, as it was scheduled to meet the German Leipzig in the final price, which is the only team representing Russia in the continental club championships.
For its part, Russia criticized these decisions from FIFA and UEFA, describing them as “discriminatory”, as it stated in an official statement: “These decisions are of a clear discriminatory nature, and harm a large number of athletes, coaches, club and national team employees, and most importantly, millions of people. Russian and foreign fans, whose interests should be protected by international sports organizations in the first place.”
The Russian Federation stated that it reserves the right to appeal those decisions in the International Court of Sports, and stated in its statement: “Such actions lead to a division in the global sports community, which has always adhered to the principles of equality, mutual respect and independence from politics.”
An official statement from Spartak Moscow read: “The decision of UEFA and FIFA upset us, although it was expected, unfortunately, the efforts of our team in this European League competition were spoiled for reasons far from the sport. We have millions of fans all over the world. And our successes Our failures unite people from dozens of countries, and even in the most difficult moments sport must build bridges, not burn them.”
In the same context, UEFA has terminated its relationship with Gazprom, one of the world’s energy giants, owned by the Russian government, and which has been the main sponsor of the European Champions League in recent years. This includes the European Champions League, the championships for the UEFA national teams and Euro 2024.
In a related context, the Ukrainian Yury Fernidub, the coach of Sheriff Tiraspol, the Moldovan champion, who defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League 5 months ago, announced his return to his country to volunteer in the Ukrainian army.
Fernydub was born in the city of Zhytomyr in northern Ukraine, and made a decision to return to his homeland following leaving his job as a coach for the Moldovan team, and a picture of him was published on social networking sites in which he is wearing a military uniform with two of his colleagues in the army.
The 56-year-old will join the three-weight boxing world champion Vasyl Lomachenko, following he revealed himself in full Ukrainian military uniform following joining the army as well. Former Ukrainian boxers Vladimir and Vitali Klitschko also joined the fight.
For its part, a spokeswoman for the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of the English club Chelsea, who left the club in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian war, said that he agreed to a request from Ukraine to help conduct negotiations with the aim of ending the conflict with Russia.
“I can confirm that the Ukrainian side contacted Roman Abramovich to support him in reaching a peaceful solution, and that he has been trying to help with that since then, and given the current circumstances, we ask for an understanding of why we did not comment on the situation or the extent of his involvement in the matter,” the spokeswoman for the Russian businessman added. .
On the other hand, European media highlighted the tears of Ukrainian Benfica striker Roman Yarimchuk, following receiving a standing ovation in his team’s match once morest Vitoria in the Portuguese League, as Ukrainian flags were raised around the stadium, in addition to a banner reading “Stop the war.” .
As for Andy Lunin, Real Madrid goalkeeper, he launched a fundraising campaign to help his country Ukraine in light of the Russian attack, while the Algerian Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City striker, expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian cause, and posted on his official Twitter account a picture of him wearing a shirt with the Ukrainian flag.
– other sports –
Reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued in various games, as the International Volleyball Federation announced yesterday, Tuesday, the withdrawal of the organization of the 2022 World Cup from Russia, and stated in an official statement: “The Board of Directors of the Federation reached a conclusion that it would be impossible to prepare for and host the World Championship in Russia due to the war in Ukraine, and accordingly it was decided to withdraw the organization, and the host country will be announced at a later time.”
The International Taekwondo Federation also stripped Russian President Vladimir Putin of an honorary black belt over his country’s invasion of Ukraine, as the federation considered Moscow’s actions inconsistent with the sport’s vision of “peace is more valuable than victory.”
“The International Taekwondo Federation has decided to withdraw the honorary 9 dan black belt awarded to Mr. Vladimir Putin in November 2013, and we also announce that no competitions will be held in Russia and Belarus. In line with the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee, the flags of the two countries will not be displayed or their anthems played at events,” he added in a statement on Tuesday. Taekwondo around the world.
For her part, Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina announced that she would refuse to face Russian and Belarusian players in tournaments, once morest the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of her country, following she was drawn in the Monterrey tournament once morest Russian Anastasia Potapova.
The 15th-ranked WTA player has criticized the tennis federations, following compatriots Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko criticized the game’s guardians for not taking a stand on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For her part, Ukrainian tennis player Diana Yastremiksa managed to escape from her country and arrived in France, following spending two nights in an underground garage, and despite what she was exposed to, she insisted on facing Romanian Anna Bogdan in the French Open in Lyon.
