Berlin (dpa) – Under the impression of the dramatic images from Ukraine, Russia is also becoming increasingly isolated in world sports.
But the big football associations are struggling with the most drastic consequences for them, despite loud boycott threats. Although FIFA has initially banned international football matches on Russian soil, the world association has not yet been able to bring itself to a complete ban.
The European football union UEFA, which like FIFA has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin for years, condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has so far not banned either Russian teams or Russian money from its competitions. The pressure increases every day.
With world footballer Robert Lewandowski as an urgent reminder, the Polish and later also the Swedish and Czech football associations announced that they would not compete in the World Cup playoffs in Russia at the end of March. “I can’t imagine going onto the pitch in a month and forgetting what’s happening,” said Bayern striker Lewandowski, who played in the Bundesliga with a blue and yellow captain’s armband out of solidarity with the Ukrainian population. “We know what’s happening and that the whole world doesn’t accept it. We have to support Ukraine.”
FIFA threatens complete ban on Russia
FIFA has now decided that Sbornaya’s home games should only be played on neutral ground, without spectators and without the Russian anthem and flag. The association followed the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). After all, FIFA threatened further sanctions up to and including a complete exclusion of the country if the situation did not improve quickly.
FIFA also stressed that it was in contact with the associations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic “in order to find appropriate and acceptable solutions together”. Because the three associations have already gone further. For example, Russia is without an opponent in the qualifying games that have been scheduled so far on the way to the controversial Qatar World Cup. Under no circumstances will Russia be played, the Czech association announced on Sunday. According to the original plan, the playoffs were first played by Poland in Russia, with the winner five days later playing the winner of the Sweden-Czech Republic game at home. The English association FA also announced that it would not play international matches against Russia at any level.
On Thursday, Infantino avoided the question of whether he would return the Friendship Order received from President Putin in 2019. The world association will have to decide whether to alienate the 2018 World Cup hosts from qualifying for the World Cup – or the overwhelming majority of other associations by making the opposite decision.
In this exceptional situation, it seems possible that Russia’s game against Poland and the final will be postponed for a World Cup ticket to later this year, the World Cup begins on November 21st. The French head of the association, Noël Le Graët, was the first senior official to bring up Russia’s exclusion from the competition on Sunday. “That’s my first impulse,” the 80-year-old, who sits on the FIFA Council, told the newspaper “Le Parisien”. “I will certainly not object to the exclusion of Russia.”
The European Football Union, which had already stripped St. Petersburg of the Champions League final, announced further emergency meetings of its executive committee at the weekend. The most important and probably also the most influential financier is still the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is highly controversial in Europe and whose role in the second division club FC Schalke 04 also plays a prominent role in Germany.
“Dirty Money”
“It’s dirty money now. You have to say very clearly, in every direction, that can no longer exist, we can no longer accept it,” said DFB interim president Hans-Joachim Watzke on the ZDF “Sportstudio”. Chelsea FC’s announcement on Saturday evening that Russian owner Roman Abramovich was handing over the management of the charitable foundation caused a stir in England. A move in the face of impending sanctions?
Schalke already played without the Gazprom lettering on their jerseys at the weekend. Watze, also managing director of the Gelsenkirchen district rival Borussia Dortmund, suggested financial help should the Royal Blues finally separate from Gazprom. DFB presidential candidate Peter Peters, once responsible for the Gazprom deal at Schalke, said: “Things have changed so massively. It can’t go on like this.” Watzke and Peters disagreed on the question of whether Russian teams should also be excluded from football competitions. “In the end you meet the club, not the state,” said Watzke.
Smaller associations answered the question for themselves. The world judo association suspended Putin as honorary president and ambassador for the sport. Putin himself is a black belt holder. The World Biathlon Union (IBU) decided that biathletes from Russia and Belarus must compete under a neutral flag at the remaining World Cups this winter. The Russian anthem is no longer played. As expected, the Russian Biathlon Association RBU reacted angrily and announced that it would no longer compete this winter: “This is direct discrimination against our country and Russian athletes.”
Clear demands from the athletes
Similar rules apply in ski jumping and gymnastics. The German Fencing Federation announced that it would bring back the athletes from the Women’s Epee World Cup in Sochi. The world volleyball association FIVB is putting Russia to the test as the host of the World Cup in August and September.
For the German Athletes Association, that doesn’t go far enough. “International and national sport must now exhaust all possibilities and jointly issue sanctions with the utmost severity in order to remain true and credible to its values,” said a statement published on Saturday evening.
The representation of interests of German top athletes wants, for example, associations from Russia and Belarus to be completely excluded from the sports association system, all relationships with Russian donors to be broken off, officials from both countries to be excluded and athletes from Russia and Belarus no longer to be allowed to take part in international competitions during the war.
“The Russian war of aggression leaves no other choice but for sanctions to also harm innocent third parties,” it said. The Norwegian Sports Association also made similar demands. “Russia’s attacks on the Ukrainian people and violations of international law call for international condemnation and sanctions,” Norway’s National Olympic Committee said in a statement. An exclusion of the active from Russia and Belarus outside their home countries is “the clear opinion” of the association.