World Cup exclusion and other penalties
World sport isolated warmonger Russia
2/28/2022, 4:56 p.m
Like politics and the economy before it, sport is hitting Russia and Belarus with drastic sanctions for the aggressive war in Ukraine. The world football association FIFA is about to suspend the Russian association. The avalanche cannot be stopped.
SOCCER
The world governing body FIFA has imposed the first sanctions, but will do much more. Only no more international games are to be played in Russia, and home games are to take place on neutral ground. In addition, the anthem should no longer be played for the national team, and the Russian flag should no longer be visible. The name Russia can be replaced by the association name RFU. However, according to consistent media reports, even stricter sanctions could soon be imposed, up to and including Russia’s exclusion from the 2022 World Cup. That decision could be announced soon.
The European association UEFA will also act. The Russians are still threatened with comprehensive international exclusion on Monday evening. The management level is in constant exchange, which should lead to results in a timely manner. The German Football Association (DFB) is a clear supporter of this attitude. The Champions League final has already been moved from St. Petersburg to Paris.
Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic are taking matters into their own hands. The associations refuse to play against the Russian team for participation in the World Cup. “We can’t pretend nothing happened,” wrote Bayern Munich’s Poland captain Robert Lewandowski on Twitter. France, England, Denmark and Norway are also demanding tougher action, and Switzerland no longer allows their teams to play against Russian teams. This may also affect the women’s European Championship in the summer, for which Russia is qualified. Group opponents there are Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands.
OLYMPICS/PARALYMPICS
FIFA recalls the soft handling of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with Russia. Even state doping and a war of aggression do not seem to be enough for the Order of the Rings to be excluded from the Olympic family. Under increasing pressure, however, the IOC took a tougher stance and recommended that its member associations exclude Russian athletes from international events. This also applies to athletes from Belarus. Vladimir Putin is stripped of his Olympic medal. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), like the IOC, sees itself exposed to demands for the immediate suspension of Russia immediately before the start of the Paralympics in Beijing (from March 4th). The IPC announced a decision to ntv.de on Wednesday. However, due to the current dynamics, this could also happen at an earlier point in time. The IOC federation was the first to suspend non-Olympic orienteering in Russia.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS) have jointly recommended suspending participation in competitions and training measures in Russia and the war zones. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for sport, expressly supports this. On Monday, the DOSB also immediately followed the IOC’s demand to exclude Russian athletes.
HANDBALL
The European Handball Federation (EHF) is apparently considering possible suspensions of Russian and Belarusian teams in European handball competitions at club and national team level because of the Ukraine war. The association announced in a statement that an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee would be held on Monday evening to “consider the need for further decisions”.
In its statement, the EHF emphasized “that there is neither acceptance nor understanding of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This also applies to all parties that are actively involved in such an act of violence or support it.” “Solutions for the national team and club games affected by the current situation must now be found”.
The EHF had previously canceled games planned for this week involving Russian and Belarusian teams. Matches in the Champions League and the European League for men are affected, as well as the women’s European Championship qualifiers between Greece and Belarus. The games of the German qualifying group were scheduled for March 2nd in Chalkida, Greece and March 6th in Minsk.
The European governing body had already decided last week that Russian handball teams must initially play their home games in EHF competitions on neutral ground. The regulation applies to all club and national teams. In addition, the qualifiers for the Women’s EURO 2022 between Poland and Russia scheduled for March 3rd and 6th have been postponed “to ensure the safety of the participating teams, players and officials”.
The women’s qualifiers between the Czech Republic and Ukraine scheduled for March 4th and 5th will also not take place as planned. In qualifying for the 2023 men’s World Cup, both play-off duels between Finland and Ukraine will be played as “double headers” with the northern Europeans (March 16 and 20).
OTHER SPORTS
Chess, fencing, swimming, volleyball, also ice hockey, gymnastics, skiing, basketball or biathlon and table tennis react. Either events are withdrawn, competitions with Russian athletes are canceled or flags or the national anthem are banned. For example, Formula 1 will not race in Russia. There is no at least obviously coordinated approach.
BUSINESS/SPONSORSHIP
Many clubs and associations are checking cooperation with Russian sponsors. Schalke 04 have ended their partnership with state-owned gas giant Gazprom, which oligarch Roman Abramovich is trying to cede control of World Cup winners Chelsea. According to the English “Times”, UEFA is also working on a separation from Gazprom.