BY ANDREW EKEJIUBA
It’s no longer news that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is already generating a lot of attention and negative impact on sports globally such that sporting pundits around the world remain in great disbelief over the turn of events.
The conflict began after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a military operation against the neighbouring country last week.
In reaction, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree to impose martial law in the country, with the domestic football league being officially suspended. This means that teams such as Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk will not be able to play for a minimum of 30 days.
Aside this, Russia was set to host the Champions League final in Saint Petersburg, but UEFA have made it clear that there will now be a change of venue to Paris, France.
Also, Russian national team are billed face Poland in the 2022 World Cup play-offs in March, but the visitors have already asked not to play on Russian soil.
The EuroLeague teams Russian sides CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan and Zenit Saint Petersburg are in the top eight of the EuroLeague standings and they are considered amongst the favourites to make the play-offs. However, there are players such as Barcelona’s Alex Abrines who “would prefer not to travel” to Russia for his team’s two upcoming games against CSKA and Zenit.
In volleyball, Russia is expected to host the Men’s Volleyball World Championship, which would take place in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan and Yaroslavl.
The international volley federation are currently monitoring the situation and they have pointed out they will change the venue only if it is impossible for the tournament to go ahead in Russia.
Still on the international sporting calendar, Sochi will host this season’s Russian Grand Prix, but there are still no tickets on sale for the race, while Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel has announced that he will not take part in the race in protest.
Frankly, many active sportsmen and women are not spared of the trauma of the raging war as the conflict is leaving thousands of fatalities among Ukrainian citizens and the world. One of them is Maurice Creek, an American basketball player who plays in the Ukrainian Basketball Super League.
Creek, who during his time in college played for Indiana University Hoosiers and The George Washington University, has sought opportunities outside his home country to fulfill his dream of being a professional player, which has taken him to countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel and Ukraine.
Now stuck in Ukraine and holding on to his basketball career, Creek has found himself in the least desirable place and time following the raging war.
“My mother is crying every day, my father is worried sick, my brothers are calling me nonstop every day,” Creek told reporters.
Creek has been stuck in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, where he has been playing for MBC MYKOLAIV since January, his third team in that country, where he first arrived in 2019, but now has no way out.
“I just got out of a bomb shelter. It scares you, it’s like I am part of a war that I have no business being a part of,” Creek said with a tinge of regret.
Because the U.S. embassy in Ukraine is closed, Creek is staying in touch with his agent and family to help get him to a border crossing so he can leave Ukraine.
The basketballer tried to escape Ukraine before the conflict escalated, but couldn’t travel out of the country because he wasn’t paid, something Jerome Randle, a former California shooting guard, confirmed.
Aside the aforementioned, the European Union (EU) responded to Russia’s actions in Ukraine with sanctions against the Kremlin and its allies on Thursday, and one such individual who has been sanctioned is chess legend Anatoli Karpov.
The former Chess master was deputy of the Russian Duma, and the sanctions placed upon him will prevent him from moving through European territory.
He turns 71 years old in May, and has been a long-time member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russian party.
He has created 46 schools for chess across the globe; however his work will now be under the microscope and be affected by the war in Ukraine.
These sanctions approved by EU encompass a lot more famous and wealthy Russians, with 351 members of the Duma and 27 high-ranking officials also being named on the list.
Some Russian international athletes are also not happy over the development and they have called on Putin to put an end to the war. Top among them is Andrey Rublev who has beckoned on the Russian Government to cease its attack on Ukraine, writing “No war please” on a camera after progressing to the Dubai Tennis Championships final.
The world number seven made the powerful gesture in the immediate aftermath of his win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
Rublev is among a growing number of Russian athletes to have expressed solidarity with Ukraine and opposition to the invasion, despite the potential of repercussions from the Russian authorities.
More than 1,500 people have been arrested in Moscow for demonstrating against Russia’s military assault on Ukraine.
Other prominent Russian athletes to have called for an end to hostilities include US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and ice hockey great Alexander Ovechkin.
Rublev’s written message comes after he had already weighed in on the situation following a quarter-final victory over Mackenzie McDonald of the United States.
“In these moments you realise that my match is not important,” Rublev said.
“It’s not about my match, how it affects me.
“What’s happening in Ukraine is much more terrible.
“You realise how important it is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what, to be united. We should take care of our earth and of each other; this is the most important thing.”
Rublev’s compatriot Medvedev, who next week will become world number one, also spoke out against the invasion while playing at the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
“Watching the news from home, waking up here in Mexico, was not easy,” Medvedev said.
“By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world.
“We play in so many different countries; I’ve been in so many countries as a junior and as a pro.
“It’s just not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace.”
Already, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has banned the flags and anthems of Russia and Belarus at all its competitions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The organisation’s Executive Committee met at the weekend and announced that the flags of Russia and Belarus must not be displayed, and the countries anthems played, at any FIG competitions until further notice.
All FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup events scheduled to take place in the countries are cancelled, while Russia and Belarus will not be allocated any such events until further notice.
Also, events impacted by this decision are the FIG Acrobatics World Cup that was due to be held in Oktyabrskiy in May and the FIG Challenge World Cup in rhythmic gymnastics that was scheduled to take place in Moscow in August.
FIG also says any FIG-sanctioned events due to take place in either Russia or Belarus will be removed from its calendar and not recognised by the organisation.
“As a sporting governing body, our first duty is to protect all our athletes, including protecting them from political pressure,” said FIG President Morinari Watanabe.
“Our thoughts go to the members of the gymnastics community in Ukraine. Sport is friendship and solidarity.
“We must show solidarity with the members of our family who are in despair and offer them a helping hand to ensure their future.”
However, the FIG Foundation for Solidarity is set to allocate special aid to support Ukrainian athletes and other members of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation impacted by the conflict.
A long-time sponsor of FIG has been Russian bank VTB, which has provided financial support to FIG since 2009. VTB does not currently appear on the partners section of the FIG website.
Also, the International Judo Federation (IJF) has cancelled its Grand Slam tournament in Kazan as sporting events in Russia continue to be called off or moved.
The exodus follows Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, which prompted the International Olympic Committee to urge that International Federations move all events from Russia and Belarus if they had not already.
Belarus is currently assisting Russia in the military offensive.
Hundreds of people have been killed, including civilians, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.
The Kazan Grand Slam – a World Judo Tour event – had been due to take place from May 20 to 22.
Currently, no one knows how Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will play out (or as people say ,”what his endgame is”) but one thing is for sure — predicting his next move and any subsequent impact on the global economy or sports is a fool’s errand.
From the foregoing, it is clear that the conflict in Ukraine is giving a devastating blow to a peaceful world and destroying the fabrics of sports development globally. Only a ceasefire is the panacea that will heal the wounds this raging war has brought to the families of Ukrainians affected by this unwarranted cum senseless war of supremacy.
