Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Ukraine Invasion & Russian Sanctions
Every week we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT - HAAS F1 TEAM, UKRANIAN BOXERS, SCHALKE 04 & MORE
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to sanctions across global sport, and Belarus, a key staging area for the full-scale invasion, has also been sanctioned.
International sports athletes, clubs, and organisations have swiftly moved to boycott Russia after it invaded Ukraine, as the sports world rebukes the actions of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly sought to use sport — including the 2018 World Cup — to essentially sportswash by reinforcing the country's polarising reputation abroad.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged sports organisations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in international events, citing both countries' violation of the Olympic Truce.
A statement read: “In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.
“Wherever this is not possible on short notice for organisational or legal reasons, the IOC EB strongly urges International Sports Federations and organisers of sports events worldwide to do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colours, flags or anthems should be displayed.”
European football’s governing body UEFA moved quickly to change the 2022 Champions League final venue away from St. Petersburg after the invasion.
In a statement, the governing body said: "The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021/22 UEFA Men’s Champions League from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.
UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel 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. Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement.”
UEFA also joined FIFA in banning all Russian teams from international competition, a move which ejected Russia's Spartak Moscow from the Europa League.
President Aleksander Ceferin also confirmed the UEFA Foundation for Children will grant 1 million Euros to charity initiatives focusing on children in Ukraine affected by Russia's invasion, additionally allocating an immediate emergency aid fund of 100,000 euros to assist Ukrainian children and refugees.
While there was condemnation of the invasion from football leagues including the German Bundesliga, club FC Schalke 04 confirmed they were cancelling their partnership with Russian state-owner sponsor Gazprom, and said they would remove the logo of the Russian oil company, the team's main sponsor, from their playing shirts.
A statement from the club read: “The FC Schalke 04 managing board and supervisory board have come to the agreement to end the club’s partnership with GAZPROM prematurely. The club are currently in discussions with representatives of the current sponsor and further information will be released at a later date.”
Formula 1 cancelled the Russian Grand Prix, scheduled for September 25, and later announced that it had terminated its contract with the promoter of the annual race, meaning there will be no more races in the country for the foreseeable future.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel had said he would not take part in the race, should it go ahead, because of Russia's actions in Ukraine.
At a press conference during pre-season testing, Vettel said: "In my personal opinion, I woke up to this morning's news, shocked, so I don't know. I think it's horrible to see what is happening.
"Obviously if you look at the calendar we have a race scheduled in Russia. For myself, my own opinion is I should not go, I will not go. I think it's wrong to race in the country.
"I'm sorry for the people, innocent people that are losing their lives, that are getting killed for stupid reasons and a very, very strange and mad leadership.
"I'm sure it's something that we will talk about, but personally I'm just so shocked and sad to see what is going on. So we will see going forward, but I think my decision is already made."
World champion Max Verstappen added: "When a country is at war it is not right to race there, that's for sure."
The FIA also announced that no competition would be allowed to take place in Russia or Belarus until further notice, but said that Russian and Belarusian drivers could continue to compete under the neutral FIA flag.
The constructor Haas, which is sponsored by Russian brand Uralkali, released Russian driver Nikita Mazepin from his contract with the team. They also removed the Russian flag-coloured Uralkali branding and ran a plain white car for the final day of pre-season testing.
Other sports federations announced sanctions in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The ITF Board announced it would suspend the Russian and Belarusian Tennis Federations’ memberships and withdraw from all international team competition with immediate effect. This means players will be allowed to compete in tour events, but will not be able to compete under the flags of Russia or Belarus.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) cancelled all World Cup events scheduled to take place in Russia until the end of the season, in the wake of it invading Ukraine, after national governing bodies from Sweden, Norway and the United States had all vowed to boycott FIS World Cups if they were not moved from Russia.
FIS also followed the IOC recommendation and voted not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes compete.
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) suspended all Russian and Belarusian National Teams and Clubs from participating in IIHF events, it announced, and withdrew the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships hosting rights from Russia.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) withdrew the FINA Order award given to Vladimir Putin in 2014, but will continue to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutral athletes.
FINA also cancelled the World Junior Championships that were due to take place in Russia.
Lastly, and perhaps most pertinent of all, Ukrainian boxing stars received global acclaim for their involvement in defending their country in light of Russia's siege on their homeland.
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, along with fellow professional fighters Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk and a myriad of other Ukrainian civilians, have headed to the frontline amid Russia's siege.
Vitali is the mayor of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv and Wladimir has been very vocal in enlisting in the military to physically be in combat in the face of the critical security situation in his country.
The responses from the around the sporting world show that, when channelled correctly, sport is the most powerful cultural asset on the planet.
The sheer number of organisations and events that have been impacted by Russia’s influence, rooted to their core, as this crisis unfolds further shows that the relationship between sport and politics has never been more significant or apt.
However, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine seems to finally have turned the tide of acceptance on authoritarian regimes using sports to distract from their human rights records, or other malign actions.
Hopefully, the uncomfortable decisions that have been made by federations, athletes, and sports teams alike will spell the beginning of the end for sportswashing, and signal a new dawn for the global sporting landscape.
MISS – THE IPC & CHELSEA
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) bowed to pressure and made a U-turn on its decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
Seventy-one Russians and 12 Belarusians will not be allowed to participate after threats of boycott from other nations and escalating tension in the athletes’ villages in Beijing.
The IPC’s announcement on Wednesday that athletes from those countries would be allowed to compete under a neutral flag was met by criticism and the threat of a boycott.
In a statement, IPC president Andrew Parsons said: “An overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful. They have told us that, if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
“Multiple NPCs (National Paralympic Committees), some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.
“Ensuring the safety and security of athletes is of paramount importance to us and the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable.”
Parsons also apologised to athletes from Russia and Belarus, saying: “The situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable. With this in mind, and in order to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC (Russian Paralympic Committee) and NPC Belarus.
“To the Para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce. You are victims of your governments’ actions.
“I hope and pray that we can get back to a situation when the talk and focus is fully on the power of sport to transform the lives of persons with disabilities, and the best of humanity.”
The IPC could have led the way by coming to their eventual moral stand immediately rather than just as a response to widespread criticism.
However, despite Parsons’ platitudes, there is no doubt that the IPC ejected Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Games because it had been shamed into doing so. Parsons pulled the trigger only when the wave of critical international public opinion and threats from NPCs became too much.
In other news, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich raised more questions than answers when he hastily attempted to hand over control of the Premier League club to the trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation.
In a statement, he said: “During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.
“I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans.”
The Russian oligarch has always denied having close ties to Putin, but he is described as a ‘person of interest’ to the Home Office because of his links to the Russia state and his public association with corrupt activity.
However, the trustees raised immediate concerns and enlisted the Foundation’s lawyers to determine whether the Russian’s hatchet plan would actually be compatible with UK charity law.
This hesitancy seemed to force Abramovich’s hand, and it was not long before he released a further statement confirming his intention to sell the club.
It read: “As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.
“The sale of the Club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club.
“Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.”
Abramovich’s haste in releasing the two statements underlined the confusion in his strategy and signalled his intent to fast-track a solution to protect the club from potential sanctions.
However, the SW6 club’s future remains up in the air and to compound the Blues’ eventful week, their fans were criticised for chanting the name of Abramovich during a minute’s applause in support of the victims of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Premier League clubs had agreed to a show of solidarity with Ukraine during the weekend’s round of matches, with all of the 20 club captains wearing the colours of Ukraine on their armbands
There has also been a moment of ‘reflection and solidarity’ before kick-off in each game, with the big screens at stadiums displaying a ‘Football Stands Together’ message.
But at Turf Moor ahead of Burnley’s clash with Chelsea, as the home side rose to their feet to applaud the victims of Ukraine, the away end started to chant the name of their owner – who revealed on Wednesday he is looking to sell the club.
They were quickly booed by Burnley fans, with the chant – and especially the timing of it – in rather poor taste given that Abramovich could face sanctions as a result of the invasion.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel condemned the supporters’ chants: "It's not the moment to do this. If we show solidarity we show solidarity and we should do it together.
"We take the knee together. If an important person from our club or another club unfortunately dies we have a minute of respect.
"It is not the moment to give other messages. It's the moment to show respect. We want to do this. As a club we need our fans to commit to this minute of applause.
"We do it for Ukraine and there is no second opinion about this situation. They have our thoughts and our support and we should stand together."
At a frightening time for advocates of peace around the world, now was the time for sport to stand together, arm in arm, in solidarity with Ukraine and all those affected by the tragedy of events unfolding as a result of Russia’s invasion.
However, as will always sadly be the case, the words and actions of a few groups of people can always let the side down.
This was the case for the IPC and Chelsea supporters, who had the opportunity to present a united front against the atrocities in Ukraine, but instead chose to divide sport even further.