'Stop it, Putin', 'No war please': How sport is reacting to Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked widespread reaction in the sports world, with demands even for the country to be booted out of this year’s World Cup.

A look at the main developments:

FOOTBALL

# Reigning world champions France call for Russia to be kicked out of the 2022 World Cup. “The world of sport, and especially football, cannot remain neutral. I certainly would not oppose the expulsion of Russia,” said French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet.

# FIFA tell Russia to play home matches at neutral venues, ban its flag and anthem. Russian teams to play as the “Football Union of Russia”. The governing body admits, however, it will continue its dialogue with other sports organisations to determine additional measures “including potential exclusion from competitions”.

# The Polish FA insist once again that they will not play Russia in a World Cup play-off. “Today’s FIFA decision is totally unacceptable,” tweeted Polish FA president Cezary Kulesza. “Our stance remains intact: Polish National Team will NOT PLAY with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.” Poland are due to play in Moscow on 24 March. Should Russia win, they are scheduled to host the winners of a match between the Czechs and the Swedes on 29 March. Sweden and the Czech Republic have also refused to play Russia .

#  Saint Petersburg stripped as hosts of UEFA’s Champions League final set for 28 May. The game has been switched to the Stade de France in Paris.

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. https://t.co/rfnfbXzdjF

— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) February 26, 2022

# At Wembley on Sunday, Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson carried flowers in Ukraine’s yellow and blue colours onto the pitch before kick-off in the League Cup final. One supportive banner in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours read “You’ll never walk alone” in reference to Liverpool’s anthem.

# On Saturday, Chelsea’s billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich said he was handing over the “stewardship and care” of the Premier League club to the trustees of its charitable foundation. In his statement, there was no mention of the crisis in Ukraine.

Emotional moments in #EPL:

🇩🇰 Eriksen returned 8 months after suffering a cardiac arrest

🇺🇦 Zinchenko was reduced to tears amid banners of "We stand with Ukraine"

☮️Man United, Watford players stood together with a sign saying "peace" in six languageshttps://t.co/2pRcYnjH1G pic.twitter.com/XUoNNQ2piI

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) February 27, 2022

# Ukraine team-mates Vitaliy Mykolenko of Everton and Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko embraced before their Premier League game at Goodison Park. Zinchenko was in tears as the crowd unveiled banners including one that read “We stand with Ukraine”. Manchester United and Watford players stand together with a sign saying “peace” in six languages ahead of their game at Old Trafford.

# German club Schalke 04 remove Russian gas company Gazprom from its shirts. In place of the sponsor, players carried the team name across their shirts.

# The roof of Eintracht Frankfurt’s stadium was lit in Ukraine’s national colours of blue and yellow. Electronic signs at the ground read “Stop it, Putin!”. Bayern Munich wore black armbands . The only exception was Munich captain Lewandowski, who wore a yellow and blue armband.

# Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was said by head coach Carlo Ancelotti to be “down in the dumps as he is anxious with his mother and friends living in Kyiv”. “My grandfather experienced World War I, my father lived through World War II, and they told me lots of stories about them,” said Ancelotti. “It (war) is a horror, full stop.”

FORMULA ONE

The Russian Grand Prix, scheduled for 25 September, is cancelled , a day after defending world champion Max Verstappen and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel publicly declared their opposition to driving in the race . Red Bull driver Verstappen said: “When a country is at war, it’s not right to run there.” Vettel added: “For myself, my own opinion is I should not go, I will not go. I think it’s wrong to race in the country.”

# American Formula One team Haas decided not to sport the Russian colours of its title sponsor Uralkali during the last day of pre-season testing in Barcelona on Friday. Haas, whose cars usually sport the blue, white and red colours of the Russian flag, ran in a plain white livery.

# Haas have a Russian driver, Nikita Mazepin. Uralkali, a group specializing in potash, has the driver’s father, businessman Dmitry, as its non-executive director.

BOXING

Boxing’s four major sanctioning bodies — the International Boxing federation, World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization — said in a joint statement Saturday they will not sanction bouts in Russia.

“Just as the world claims for cease of fire, our organizations have decided to not sanction any boxing championships in Russia. Just as this war has put a stop of boxing in Ukraine, our organizations will not sanction fights in Russia until further assessment of the situation,” their statement said.

TENNIS

💙💛🙏🏼 #Ukraine #Україна #HelpUkraine #IStandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/IiWE1v5Uv1

— Elina Monfils (@ElinaSvitolina) February 27, 2022

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina pledges to donate her prize money from forthcoming tournaments to her country’s military and aid groups. “I commit to redistribute the prize money of my next tournaments to support army and humanitarian needs and help them to defend You, our country,” wrote the 27-year-old, who was born in Odessa, on Twitter. Svitolina, a former world number three now at 15 in the rankings, is next due to play at Indian Wells in March where the champion receives $1.2 million.

'No war please'

🇷🇺 Russia's Andrey Rublev's message after moving into the Dubai final as his country continued the invasion of 🇺🇦 Ukrainehttps://t.co/NlvdXm5fjS pic.twitter.com/UCDh1geHoO

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) February 26, 2022

At the Dubai ATP event, Russia’s Andrey Rublev marked his semi-final win over Hubert Hurkacz by signing the camera lens on court with the message, “No war please”, clearly stating his feelings about his nation’s invasion of Ukraine.

# A second-tier ATP Challenger event, planned for Moscow from 28 February, is scrapped.

# Ukraine player Dayana Yastremska said she and her family had spent two nights sheltering underground in Odessa. “After spending two nights in the underground parking, my parents made a decision at any cost to send me and my little sister out of Ukraine! Mom,Dad, we love you very much, take care of yourself!!! I love you my country,” the former top-25 player wrote.

Iga Swiatek 🇵🇱 on Ukraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/5NyDdNF8X8

— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) February 26, 2022

# Poland’s Iga Swiatek swept aside Anett Kontaveit in the Qatar Open final and dedicated her victory to “the people who are suffering in Ukraine”. “I want to show my support to all the people who are suffering in Ukraine,” the 20-year-old former French Open champion said. “Seeing those images is really emotional for me. I wouldn’t even imagine stuff happening like that in the country next to me.”

Judo

Russian president Vladimir Putin was suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation (IJF). Putin, an accomplished judoka who was awarded an eighth dan in 2014 – one of the highest levels in the sport, had been honorary president since 2008.

Fencing

Ukrainian fencers withdrew from the world championships in Cairo to avoid a match with Russia. The male Ukrainian team, dressed in the yellow and blue of their national flag, downed their swords and picked up signs to protest. “Stop Russia! Stop the war!,” the signs read, written in English. “Save Ukraine! Save Europe”.

IOC

The International Olympic Committee, angry at the Russian invasion of Ukraine breaching the ‘Olympic Truce’, urged all international sports federations to cancel their forthcoming events in Russia .

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