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March 4, 2022
Sport has the unique power to bring people together. Whether it’s through collective moments like the World Cup or Olympic Games, or galvanizing thousands to take a knee for social justice, sport has the capability to provide an arena to address conflict, provide inspiration, deliver joy or provide an escape. In the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the world of sport has joined other sectors and governments in taking swift action to condemn the invasion.
Fans and athletes around the world have shown solidarity with Ukraine and Ukrainian players on their teams. And several prominent Russian athletes, including tennis’ Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and hockey’s Alex Ovechkin are calling for peace. Other athletes have even been caught up in the conflict, fighting for their country, including multiple world heavyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko, now mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and boxer Oleksandr Usyk.
In the world of sport for social change, some organizations have transfered their efforts to support those fleeing to safety. Beyond Sport partner and Ukrainian non-profit, League of Tolerance, are amongst those aiding civilians on the ground. For the last decade, civil unrest, political controversies and an armed insurgency have tested Ukraine, but the organization has tirelessly worked to use sport to unite through diversity with a focus on youth.
Founder Oleksandr Fomichov and his team have been working nearly 24 hours per day to provide emergency support services and help with border crossings, especially focusing on families with children with disabilities. They have already helped 23 families (100+ people) and have a goal of reaching 100.
And repurcussions from governing bodies, federations, teams, leagues and sporting brands has been swift. Three days before the war started, 50 Olympic athletes called on the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees to suspend the Russian and Belarusian (whose government support Russia) Olympic and Paralympic Committees in an open letter. The letter, which was addressed to the IOC President, Thomas Bach and IPC President, Andrew Parsons details Russia’s invasion of Ukraine being in clear breach of the Olympic and Paralympic charters.
Following this, the IOC recommended bans on Russian and Belarusian athletes from some international sports competitions and urged all international competitions scheduled to be held in Russia or Belarus to be canceled or relocated. Most recently, the IPC followed suit and made the announcement to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Winter Paralympic Games, just 24 hours before the Games begin today.
Simultaneously, all sporting federations and bodies moved quickly to strip Russia of events. European soccer governing body, UEFA, decided to relocate the Champions League final, which was set to have taken place in the Russian city of St Petersburg. The motorsport’s governing body, FIA, concluded that it was “impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances” that was set to take in the Russian city of Sochi. Tennis’ ATP Challenge Tour canceled its tournament, which was set to begin in Moscow on the 28th of February. Manchester United severed ties with their official airline partner, Aeroflot, and Chelsea FC owner and Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, announced this week that he will be selling the club.
Additionally, the International Judo Federation (IJF) announced the cancellation of its Grand Slam event in Kazan, Russia and five World Cup skiing events that were scheduled to take place in Russia between now and the end of the 2021-22 season has been canceled or moved to another location. Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic called for FIFA World Cup playoff matches to not be played in Russia and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) became the latest to cancel all World Cup and World Challenge Cup events planned for Russia and Belarus.
The NHL, which has a high number of international players, suspended its relationships with its business partners in Russia to condemn their actions and call for peace. In addition, they paused its Russian social media platforms and discontinued any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, Russia’s attack has killed hundreds and displaced some 100,000 civilians.
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