The global sports equipment giant announced on Tuesday that it had made the decision due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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“Adidas suspends its partnership with the Russian Football Federation with immediate effect”, said a company spokesperson on Tuesday, March 1. The company achieved 2.9% of its turnover in the Russia, Ukraine and CIS region in 2020, in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
The day before, UEFA had broken its contract with the Russian energy giant Gazprom, estimated at 40 million euros per year and which covered the Champions League, the international competitions organized by the body of European football as well as Euro-2024. The German club Schalke 04 had done the same with the same sponsor.
It is therefore a new blow to Russian football, after Fifa’s decision to exclude the national team from the 2022 World Cup, organized in Qatar at the end of the year.
The contracts of sponsors and equipment manufacturers are also being undermined in other sports: the bicycle manufacturer LOOK has decided to end its partnership – which began at the start of the year – with the Russian team Gazprom-RusVelo, a member of the ‘UCI Pro Team, second division of men’s road cycling.
Breaches of sponsorship contracts, but also measures banishing Russian athletes and canceling competitions have multiplied in many sports since Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday.