Champions League final in Russia? “No chance!” Gazprom as a multi-million sponsor of the home EM 2024? tricky. In view of the developments in eastern Ukraine, politicians are also calling for sanctions in professional sports that “hurt Russia above all”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the move on Tuesday.
“No chance,” football tournaments should not take place in a Russia “that invades sovereign states.”
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“It is absolutely vital at this critical time that President Putin understands that what he is doing will be catastrophic for Russia.”
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UEFA is struggling
At the moment there are “no plans to change the venue”, according to UEFA, but SID information does not rule out the possibility of the game being relocated. The conflict has top priority at headquarters in Nyon – the pressure on UEFA is increasing.
And not just on them.
DFB speaks of a delicate situation
The German Football Association is also on alert. Because the Russian state-owned company Gazprom is one of the major sponsors of UEFA, which will also present the next European Championship in this country.
“It’s a very delicate situation that can change hourly and of course we all keep an eye on it,” said DFB interim president Rainer Koch of “Sportschau”.
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Will he influence UEFA regarding sponsorship? “At the moment it is regarding securing world peace and is therefore much more important than football. UEFA will communicate any consequences for football if necessary,” said Koch, who also sits on the UEFA Executive Committee, the most powerful body in European football.
Waiting is the order of the day.
German policy clearly once morest hosting
Russia’s impact on the world of professional sports is huge. The proximity to the top associations is extreme, the economic dependency enormous – that’s exactly why the call for harsh consequences was loud on Tuesday.
“For sanctions once morest Russia to be effective, they must hurt Russia above all,” said Philipp Hartewig, sports policy spokesman for the FDP, the “SID”. Using football as an example, he “also clearly” sees UEFA and its President Aleksander Ceferin as “responsible”.
Sabine Poschmann, sports policy spokeswoman for the SPD, also considers a Champions League final to be “unthinkable. UEFA is called upon to move the final to another country”. If Russia “willfully breaks international law,” Hartewig added, “Russia will have to live with the consequences.”
Short-term transfer is always possible
Discussions are also in full swing abroad. In Great Britain, for example, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat spoke of a “shameful decision with regard to the premier class final. UEFA should not offer protection to a violent dictatorship,” he wrote on Twitter.
A look back shows that short-term shifts are quite possible. Last year, the final was moved from Istanbul to Porto, and in 2020 UEFA organized a final tournament in Lisbon due to the corona pandemic.
On Tuesday, UEFA held renewed talks regarding how to proceed.
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Not only UEFA has maintained a lucrative partnership with Gazprom for years. The energy giant has long been one of the top sponsors in many sports – in football, for example, for the Champions League, last year’s European Championships or the Nations League. In addition, Alexander Dyukov, the CEO of the subsidiary Gazprom Neft, sits on the UEFA Executive Committee.
Problem case Gazprom
The association said on Tuesday that they would “observe further developments, evaluate them and urgently appeal for peace to protect the people affected by the crisis”.
With the escalation in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has once once more taken military action in connection with the Olympic Games. During the summer games in Beijing in 2008, he had already intervened in the Georgian conflict (2008) by force of arms. Six and a half years later, accompanied by a great international outcry, he annexed Crimea (2014).
(SID)
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