Champions League moved, Grand Prix axed: how the sporting world has reacted to Russia's Ukraine invasion

Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev made another plea for peace, writing "No War Please" on a TV camera lens.

Fans are seen during a UEFA Euro 2020 match in Saint Petersburg Stadium

The Gazprom Arena was due to host the Champions League final. Credit: Alexander Demianchuk/Alexander Demianchuk/TASS

The invasion of Ukraine has continued to draw punitive measures for Russia across the sporting world, with St Petersburg stripped of the UEFA football Champions League final and the Sochi Grand Prix axed by Formula One.

UEFA will now stage the European soccer showpiece in Paris while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged sports federations to move their events out of Russia or Belarus, which Moscow is using as a staging ground for its troops moving into Ukraine from the north.

A backlash against the embrace of Russian state-owned companies as sponsors in sports has resulted in Manchester United dropping Aeroflot's commercial deal.
Separately, Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev made another plea for peace, writing "No War Please" on a TV camera lens moments after advancing to the final at the Dubai Championships.

Although UEFA still has Gazprom as a Champions League sponsor, the final will no longer be staged at the Saint Petersburg stadium named after the Russian state-owned energy firm.

The climax to the European men's football season will still be held on 28 May but now at the 80,000-seat Stade de France in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris after the decision by UEFA's executive committee.

It followed discussions led by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin that involved the European Commission and French President Emmanuel Macron in recent days after concerns were raised about the status of Russia retaining such a prestigious event.
UEFA thanked Mr Macron for his "personal support and commitment to have European club football's most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis".

Alexander Dyukov, a Russian member of the UEFA executive committee, complained the decision was taken for "political reasons".

Mr Dyukov also opposed UEFA ordering Russian clubs and national teams to play at neutral venues until further notice - a ruling also imposed on Ukrainian sides.

The move comes as Russian bombs and troops pounded Ukraine during the invasion's first full day, and world leaders on Friday began to fine-tune a response meant to punish the Russian economy and its leaders, including Mr Putin's inner circle.

The IOC had already condemned Russia for breaching the Olympic Truce, days after the end of the Beijing Winter Games and ahead of the Paralympics.

Russia's name, flag and anthem are already barred from the Paralympics in Beijing, taking place between 4-13 March, over previous doping disputes.

Now the IOC is asking events not subject to the WADA doping sanctions to no longer display the Russian or Belarusian national flags or play their anthems.
The F1 race wasn't due until September in Sochi but the motorsport series leadership decided it would be "impossible" to stage the Grand Prix after talks with teams and the FIA governing body.

American team Haas also dropped the sponsorship of Russian company Uralkali during preseason testing in Barcelona. Nikita Mazepin, of Haas, is the only Russian driver on the F1 grid this season.

Away from football, the International Ski Federation announced Russia will not host any more of its World Cup events this winter.

The decision came after a farcical attempt to hold ski cross races on Friday in the Urals resort Sunny Valley one day after Russia started an invasion of Ukraine.

Share
3 min read
Published 26 February 2022 8:06am
Updated 26 February 2022 9:07am
Source: SBS News


Share this with family and friends