UEFA announced on Monday the exclusion of Russian clubs from all its European competitions next season, including the lucrative Champions League. More than two months after the start of the war in Ukraine, the sports world still favors the banning of Russian and Belarusian athletes, following the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
On February 28, four days after the Russian invasion, the IOC advocated banning Russians and Belarusians from all sports competitions, highlighting a “dilemma”: “While athletes from Russia and Belarus could continue to participate in sporting events, many Ukrainian athletes are prevented from doing so due to the attack on their country. »
Soccer
In addition to its decision to rule out Russian clubs from European Cups next season, UEFA decided on Monday to hit selection football by replacing Russia with Portugal for the Women’s Euro 2022 this summer (July 6-31). ) in England.
Before that, FIFA and the European body, in a joint decision, had ordered on February 28 the exclusion of Russia from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (from November 21 to December 18), but also from all its selections and all its clubs “until further notice”.
Tennis
On April 20, Wimbledon organizers decided to exclude Russians and Belarusians from the 2022 edition of the London tournament, third in the Grand Slam, but also from all grass events this summer in Great Britain, causing outrage of the players concerned in particular.
This sanction also aroused criticism from the ATP, because the authorities of world tennis have chosen to leave the Russian players, whose ephemeral noh 1 Daniil Medvedev, play the tournaments of the men’s circuit, the WTA and those of the Grand Slam under neutral banner. On the other hand, teams from Russia and Belarus were excluded from the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.
Athletics
World Athletics, the international athletics federation, decided in early March to exclude Russians and Belarusians “for the foreseeable future and with immediate effect”. No Russian athlete participated in the Indoor Worlds in Belgrade (March 18-20). No Russian delegation either this summer at the World Championships in Eugene (Oregon).
Gymnastic
After initially limiting itself to banning the Russian and Belarusian flags and anthems, the international federation finally decided to ban from its competitions the athletes and also the judges of these two nations, where gymnastics is a major sport. .
Swimming
The FINA (International Swimming Federation) first decided to cancel its competitions on Russian soil while allowing swimmers to line up as individuals, before excluding them until the end of the year. .
Judo
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has suspended Vladimir Putin from his status as honorary president and canceled competitions on Russian soil, but it allows Russians to compete under neutral banners. In response, the Russian Judo Federation voluntarily suspended the participation of its teams in international competitions. And therefore did not send a judoka to Sofia, where the European Championships took place this weekend.
And also…
The federations of ice hockey (IIHF), volleyball (FIVB), handball (IHF), rugby (World Rugby), badminton (BWF), skating (ISU), canoeing (ICF), basketball (FIBA), alpine skiing (FIS) and climbing (IFSC) have also opted to banish Russian and Belarusian athletes from their competitions.
The organization of the 2022 Volleyball World Cup has been withdrawn from Russia, in favor of Poland and Slovenia.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has also excluded the Russian and Belarusian teams from its events, and has withdrawn its UCI status from the professional team Gazprom / RusVelo, the only high-level Russian team in the international peloton.