Russia slapped with major sporting sanctions since day 1 of Ukraine war
ISTANBUL
A year has passed since Russia launched its war against Ukraine, and on the sports front, Russian teams, players and athletes are isolated from international events.
Just four days after the war began on February 24, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for banning Russian athletes from competing in international events.
In two early moves, Formula 1 dropped the Russian Grand Prix, held annually in Sochi, from the 2022 Formula 1 calendar, while shortly thereafter UEFA moved the Champions League final from St Petersburg to Paris.
As the first year of war draws to a close, the UEFA Executive Committee decided last month to relocate the 2023 UEFA Super Cup from Kazan, Russia, to Piraeus’ Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece. The final game is scheduled for August 16th.
Here is a list of developments regarding Russia:
Neutral flag
At the end of February last year, world football’s governing body FIFA ordered the Russian national football team to compete without a flag or anthem and play on neutral territory as the Russian Football Association.
Players from Russia and Belarus who support Moscow’s war against Kiev were allowed to compete at the US Open 2022 and the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games under a neutral flag, but were not included in the Paralympic medal table.
Unprecedented sanctions against Russia
Sports federations around the world have imposed restrictive measures against Russia.
Athletes and clubs from Russia have been banned by international sporting bodies such as FIFA, FIBA and the top seven organizations in international tennis.
To give just a few examples, Russian basketball clubs CSKA Moscow, Zenit and UNICS Kazan have been suspended from the EuroLeague season, while Russian and Belarusian players have been banned from Wimbledon.
The suspension also excluded the Russia national team from the qualifying playoffs for the men’s FIFA World Cup that took place in March last year.
The Polish Football Association had previously refused to play the 2022 World Cup playoff semi-final against Russia on March 24 because of the war.
Sponsorship Fallout
Also due to the year-long war, many sports clubs canceled their sponsorship contracts with Russian companies such as the airline Aeroflot and Gazprom.
The partnerships of the Russian natural gas giant with UEFA and the German soccer club Schalke 04 ended prematurely.
Gazprom has been a partner of the Champions League since 2012.
Meanwhile, Manchester United canceled its sponsorship deal with Aeroflot.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is selling Chelsea
In March, English football club Chelsea, owned for two decades by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, was sold to a consortium led by US businessman Todd Boehly.
The £4.25 billion ($5.2 billion) deal was approved two months after Abramovich decided to sell the club in March.
In late May, a consortium led by Boehly completed the Chelsea acquisition.
Sabalenka crowned the first “neutral” Grand Slam winner
Coming back from defeat, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in Melbourne to claim her first Grand Slam singles title on January 28.
The 24-year-old Belarusian’s victory at the Australian Open was not only her first Grand Slam title in singles, but also the first for a tennis star to fight under a neutral flag.
Sports world leads Russia boycott
Other sports federations also became active after Russia launched its “military special operation” against Ukraine.
In addition, all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials have been suspended from dozens of sports, including archery, badminton, baseball, softball, biathlon, canoeing and chess.
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