- The escalation in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has various effects on sporting events.
- Various actors have already commented on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Numerous sports associations criticize the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine.
Uefa convenes a special session
Uefa has scheduled a special Executive Committee meeting for Friday (10 a.m.) after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Then the committee meets “to assess the situation and make all the necessary decisions,” said the continental association on Thursday. According to consistent media reports, the European Football Union will withdraw the Champions League final from Russia’s St. Petersburg at that time. The final of the “premier class” is currently scheduled for May 28 in St. Petersburg. The Russian state-owned company Gazprom is one of the biggest sponsors of Uefa.
Russia’s World Cup playoff opponents are calling for the game to be rescheduled
The associations from Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic announced their refusal to host the World Cup playoffs in Russia at the end of March. “The signers of this appeal are not considering traveling to Russia and playing football games there,” says a letter to the Secretary General of the world association Fifa, Fatma Samoura, which the Polish association published on Twitter on Thursday. The “military escalation” has serious implications for the security of the teams and supervisors. In the European playoffs for the World Cup finals in Qatar (21 November to 18 December) 3 tickets will be awarded at the end of March. In one poule, Poland will compete in Russia on March 24th. If the Russians made it to the final, their opponents would be Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29th.
Schalke remove Gazprom from the jersey
Second division club Schalke 04 are drawing the first conclusions from Russia’s attack on Ukraine. As the German club announced, the lettering of the Russian main sponsor will be removed from the shirt in the coming games. Earlier on Thursday, Schalke supervisory board member and Gazprom representative Matthias Warnig resigned his mandate with immediate effect. Born in Lusatia, he is considered a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Vettel skips GP in Russia
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel does not want to drive in Sochi after the Russian attack on Ukraine. “I shouldn’t go, I won’t go,” said Vettel, visibly moved about the planned race (September 25). He was “shocked” by the “terrible” invasion of Ukraine, said the 34-year-old at a press conference on Thursday during test drives in Barcelona. Russia has a “very strange and crazy leadership,” said the Aston Martin driver. World champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) agreed and said: “If a country is at war, it would not be right to drive there.”
Ukrainian professional league ceases operations
As a result of President Volodimir Zelenskiy’s announcements calling on the population to fight, the Ukrainian Premier League (UPL) has decided to suspend play until further notice. Actually, the game should be resumed after the winter break on Friday with the game FK Minaj against Sorja Luhansk. Clubs like Sorya Luhansk or Shakhtar Donetsk, which come from the areas of eastern Ukraine that have been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, have not been training or playing in their home country for several years.
Fifa refers to press conference
Fifa is initially reluctant to discuss possible consequences after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. World football’s governing body referred on Thursday to the news agency’s request SID to a statement two days ago that Fifa was monitoring the situation. In addition, President Gianni Infantino will comment after the Council meeting on Thursday evening.
FIS sticks to competitions
The World Cup events (Aerials in Yaroslavl and Skicross in Sunny Valley) of the International Ski Federation (FIS) in Russia scheduled for this weekend will take place as planned. “The safety of the participants has the highest priority. The FIS, together with everyone involved, is closely monitoring the escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” the world association told the agency APA. Both locations are currently not affected by the conflict.
IPC in exchange with various committees
As the International Paralympic Committee announced, talks are currently being held with the respective national committees from Russia and Ukraine and appropriate solutions are being sought. Both selections are preparing for the departure for the Paralympic Winter Games (March 4-13) in Beijing. The IPC further refers to the Olympic ceasefire resolution.