The International Olympic Committee has called on sports organisations to ban all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international events.
The IOC decision follows an Executive Board meeting where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was discussed and it is set to pave the way for FIFA to finally suspend the Russian football team from the World Cup.
The committee has withdrawn the Olympic order from Vladimir Putin ‘considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past’
FIFA has been branded an ‘absolute disgrace’ for failing to throw Russia out of the World Cup already.
Football’s world governing body announced sanctions against Russia on Sunday, but they stopped short of an outright ban on participating in international competition.
Russia has been allowed to compete under the name, ‘Football Union of Russia’, with no flag or anthem and it must find a neutral country to host its matches.
But pressure has been growing on FIFA by the hour. The UK government was set to condemn the organisation for failing to take tough enough action, according to the Telegraph, and Labour MP Chris Bryant has labelled the body’s response a ‘shambles’.
However, FIFA is now ‘in advanced talks over the full suspension of Russia until further notice’, according to the BBC.
They are understood to be working closely with UEFA and an announcement is expected later today.
FIFA is under mounting pressure to ban Russia from the World Cup and other competitions
FIFA’s initial response to the invasion of Ukraine appeared to be an attempt to act in a way that was broadly consistent with the inclusion of the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2022 Winter Olympics. This allowed Russian athletes to compete, despite Russia receiving a two-year ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2019 for its state-sponsored doping program
However, the IOC’s decision would appear to be a game changer, and not just for football.
Russian tennis player, Daniil Medvedev, today became the world number one in his sport, but he may not have the chance to defend his ranking.
The US Open champion Medvedev, took the court in Acapulco, Mexico, last week hours after Novak Djokovic’s quarter-final loss in Dubai, which meant the Russian would replace him at the top of the men’s rankings today [Monday].
It came on the same day his country invaded Ukraine and now he may feel some of the consequences of Russia’s aggression. However, Medvedev has insisted his aim is to promote peace.
Russian tennis player and world number one Daniil Medvedev may not defend ranking
‘By being a tennis player I want to promote peace all over the world,’ the 26-year-old said after reaching the semi-finals at the ATP 500 tournament by defeating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
‘We play in so many different countries. I’ve been in so many different countries as a junior and as a pro. It’s just not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace.’
Medvedev’s compatriot, Andrey Rublev, is ranked seventh in the world. He paired up with Ukrainian Denys Molchanov to win a doubles title in Marseille last week.
UEFA, football’s European governing body, is also expected to take further action against Russia by banning Spartak Moscow from the Europa League.
Having already stripped the country of the Champions League final, which was due to take place in St Petersburg on May 28, and hand it to Paris, UEFA is now prepared to throw Spartak Moscow out of the Europa League.
Spartak Moscow are expected to be ejected from the Europa Champions League by UEFA
Spartak were due to play German Bundesliga team, RB Leipzig in the Round of 16 tie, but according to Bild, the tie is now expected to be cancelled.
‘We continue to be in close contact with the associations and have complete confidence in UEFA and their decision,’ RB Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff told the German outlet.
‘We assume that the games will be cancelled.’
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) awards an Order of Friendship to FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a ceremony in 2019
Europe’s football governing body had already banned Spartak from playing their home leg in Russia.
The moves by the IOC and UEFA have only ratcheted up pressure on FIFA, which looked increasingly out of step with European football and the sporting world, following Vladimir Putin’s merciless invasion of Ukraine, which began on Thursday.
Four days of rockets, shells and fighting has seen more than 500,000 refugees, mainly women and children, flee Ukraine for the West, with some children separated or even orphaned since the invasion began. Queues of up to 25 miles are reported at the border with Poland.
The horrific reality of Putin’s war has been exposed in images emerging from Ukraine, which depict the killing of young children, their distraught parents and the desperate efforts of medics to save them.
Today, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a TV address that 16 Ukrainian children have been killed and 45 wounded in the four days since the invasion began.
An explosion lights up the night sky over Kiev in the early hours of Thursday, as Russia launched an all-out attack on Ukraine from north, south and east with bombs, cruise missiles and rockets raining from the skies
A huge explosion seen at Vinnytsia military base, in central Ukraine, as the country came under all-out attack by Russia
The English Football Association has already confirmed they will not play any team from Russia, regardless of what they call themselves.
The FA is one of seven associations to announce an outright ban on games with Russia. The others include, Czech Republic, France, Poland, Scotland, Sweden and Wales.
The FA want Russia to be banned from this year’s tournament and has said they will not play the country’s representative teams at any level or age group for the foreseeable future. An England Under 17s’ match with Russia in the European Championship elite round, due to take place on March 26, was cancelled on Sunday night.
Russia are due to meet Poland in the World Cup play-offs next month, with Sweden and the Czech Republic to play the winners for a place in Qatar, but all three countries said over the weekend they are unwilling to play.
Polish FA president Cezary Kulesza said yesterday that FIFA’s decision was ‘totally unacceptable’.
Firefighter inspects the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv
‘We are not interested in participating in this game of appearances,’ he said in a tweet.
‘Our stance remains intact — the Polish national team will not play with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.’
Swedish FA president Karl-Erik Nilsson told the Fotbollskanalen website: ‘It is clear that we are not satisfied with this.’
Albania, due to play Russia twice in the Nations League in June, also said they would boycott their fixtures.
Today, MP Chris Bryant said he was ‘spitting with fury at FIFA’.
‘Do FIFA not understand?’ he told the Telegraph ‘What are they missing? This was already a shambles before last week.
‘Honestly, it’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace. Russia should not play any international sport, end of story. We cannot go down in history as the generation that refused to do everything that was in our power.’
FIFA said in its statement on Sunday it was taking ‘initial measures with regard to war in Ukraine’.
‘The six Confederation Presidents – has unanimously decided to take immediate first measures, in line with recommendations from the International Olympic Committee,’ it said in a statement.
‘FIFA will continue its ongoing dialogue with the IOC, UEFA and other sport organisations to determine any additional measures or sanctions, including a potential exclusion from competitions, that shall be applied in the near future should the situation not be improving rapidly.’
It looks like that sanction will now be applied within 24 hours.
Labour MP Chris Bryant has condemned FIFA as a ‘shambles’ and an ‘absolute disgrace’
Amid the mounting tensions, Ukrainian President Zelensky’s office announced on Monday that the Ukraine and Russia would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border, where a Russian delegation was waiting Sunday.
But the Kremlin’s ultimate aims in Ukraine – and what steps might be enough to satisfy Moscow – remained unclear.
The fast-moving developments came as scattered fighting was reported in Kyiv, battles broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and strategic ports in the country’s south came under assault from Russian forces.
With Russian troops closing in around Kyiv, a city of almost 3million, the mayor of the capital expressed doubt civilians could be evacuated.
Across the country, Ukrainian defenders were putting up stiff resistance that appeared to slow Russia’s advance.
Meanwhile, the top official in the European Union outlined plans by the 27-nation bloc to close its airspace to Russian airlines and fund the purchase of weapons for Ukraine.
