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Apoorv Dwivedi
Sports can be a prism of reality, and the sportspersons are humans too. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. This act of violence hasn’t been taken lightly by the players alike.
The most immediate reaction came from Italy where Spanish team Barcelona was playing against Napoli in Europa League. Barcelona raised the banner of “STOP WAR”.
Atlanta player Ruslan Malinovskyi who is a Ukrainian; scored a goal against Olympiacos and flashed a shirt that said “No war in Ukraine”. Poland’s National football team has refused to play the next month’s World cup Qualifier against Russia.
Poland forward Robert Lewandowski commented on this decision via Instagram. He wrote, “As an athlete, I cannot pretend nothing is happening.” He wore a band of Ukrainian flag colors in the match of Bayern Munich against Frankfurt in Bundesliga. During the match a sign of “STOP IT PUTIN!” was displayed on the big screen.
English football team has announced that it will not play Russia in the foreseeable future. Sweden and the Czech Republic have also announced that they will not play against Russia. Meanwhile, UEFA has shifted the final of the Champions League from St.Peterburg to Paris.
German club Schalke has removed the name of its prima sponsor which is a Russian corporate. On February 24, Russian club, Zenit played against Real Betis in Spain where the Russian players were shown Ukrainian Flags.
In Saturday’s match, Manchester United and Watford stood together before the match and showed a sign which said “Peace” in 6 languages. In the Carabao Cup Final last night between Chelsea and Liverpool a banner saying “You’ll never walk alone” was raised in the Wembley Stadium.
Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties.
Formula 1 announced that the FIA Formula 1 World Championship will not hold the Russian Grand Prix. The three-day event was going to be held between 23-25 September. F1 team Haas has removed the Russian colors of sponsor Uralkali and raced in White during pre-season trials.
International Judo Federation has suspended Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was their honorary president.
FIFA has decided not to hold international football matches in Russia and banned Russian spectators from the matches. Russia has been asked to play under the name “Football Union of Russia” and play on neutral venues. They cannot play under their national Flag.
Brazilian nationals who play in clubs of Ukraine have requested their evacuation.
International Boxing Federation has decided to not sanction the bouts that will be organized in Russia and this decision has been applied by World Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association, and World Boxing Council.
Robert Lewandowski has drawn a mature line defining sports and political incidents in his statement. He said on his Twitter, “It is the right decision! I can’t imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian Footballers and Fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening”.
The Russian invasion has drawn sharp criticism and suffering for the players and the fans from Russia, to not be able to represent their country or support their players, athletes’ careers might fall into dire jeopardy.