Russia is out of the game. How decisions on Russian football were approved – 05.03.2022
Western sanctions in connection with special operations in Ukraine have affected various spheres of life. The football player did not become exceptional either: the Russian team is suspended from tournaments, the symbols of Russian sponsors disappear with the uniforms of the European team, fans are cut off from broadcasts /
Chronicle chosen
The consequences for football began to be felt immediately after the start of a special military operation. Already on February 24, the national teams of Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden refused to play the play-off matches for the World Cup in Russia, and the protocols of official football organizations.
On February 25, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced the postponement of the final match of the Champions League from Russia to France. The game will take place on February 28 in Paris.
On February 27, the International Football Federation (FIFA) officially held a meeting of the Russian Football Union (RFU). The rights to football camps were assigned to holding matches under the auspices of FIFA in the country, using national symbols, the flag and anthem of the country. You can only leave on behalf of the RFU, not Russia.
The very next day, February 28, the sentences were toughened. FIFA and UEFA have suspended absolutely all Russian teams – both national teams and clubs – from participants in any of their tournaments. Thus, Spartak Moscow lost its performance in the Europa League, the national men’s team lost the chance to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
“Football is completely united on this issue and is in solidarity with all the armed forces of Ukraine,” FIFA said in a press release.
The presidents evoke associations that the situation in Ukraine will improve quickly and seriously so that football can again be a vector of peace and unity of people.
On March 4, the Association of the European Professional Football League (EPFL) excluded the Russian Premier League (RPL) and the Football National League (FNL) from the organization.
The head coach of the Russian national team Valery Karpin describes the condition of the players as follows: “Everyone is in shock. They say it’s unfair. What else are they with the existing one?!”.
Even Sergei Lavrov did not expect restrictive measures in the field of sports. “We were ready for sanctions, but we did not expect that athletes would fall under their actions …,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs said.
At the same time, Karpin noted that during the March training camp, the national team still plays one control match. However, relative competitiveness is not certain.
We will play among ourselves, maybe with the youth team of some kind of game.
Some of the clubs came not only directly, but also indirectly – as a result of consistent actions imposed on sponsors and owners. For Dynamo, this is VTB Bank, for CSKA, VEB. Russian businessman Roman Abramovich has officially announced that he is selling the London Chelsea.
Russian sports authorities are looking for a way out of this situation. On Saturday, Match TV reported that Russia is leading to the importance of finishing the leagues with the CIS and BRICS countries. How this decision can be implemented in technical life, the TV channel did not say.
Exodus of legionnaires
Due to the fact that in South Ossetia and the Russian Federation, football clubs began to lose foreign players. So on March 3, it became known that Krasnodar had suspended contracts with all of its legionnaires who had already left the clubs. This was reported by the RB Sport website with reference to Netto Genoves, an agent of the Krasnodar defender Cayo Pantaleao. Prior to this, the club terminated the contract with the German coach Daniel Farke and assistants.
The trend is noticeable in other teams. In particular, the Ukrainian defender Yaroslav Rakitsky has already left the St. Petersburg Zenit, the coach Markus Gisdol has left the Moscow Lokomotiv, and the Ukrainian Andrey Voronin has left the capital Dynamo.
At the same time, Russians playing for foreign clubs should not face anything yet. The International Federation of Professional Football Players Associations (FIFPro) told RIA Novosti that it would not call on foreign clubs to break contracts with players from Russia.
Their rights must be protected in the same way as the rights of all other players.
However, many sports-specific leathers are pleasant in the outflow of legionnaires. Arguments meet the usual – the formation of personnel.
“This was to be expected, I spoke about legionnaires a year ago, that it is necessary to get rid of players with a foreign passport in order to develop Russian football, give way to young players,” said Roman Teryushkov, a member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, who is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Khimki near Moscow, which closes the RPL standings.
I believe that the decisions announced by FIFA and UEFA are working for the development of domestic football, we see that two coaches at Dynamo and Lokomotiv left. It’s okay, it will be the resolution of our development of football.
Sports off screen
The sanctions hit the availability of sports content for coverage. If no problems are expected with the broadcasts of future events, such as RPL, then the western ones have already begun to be cut off.
On March 3, a message appeared on the Eurosport social media page that, due to difficulties in accepting the payment channel, “I am temporarily unable to activate new and renew subscriptions to view Eurosport on the site and in applications.”
“We understand that in sports it is important to watch live broadcasts and not trigger the outcome of events and matches. Therefore, the desired solution, which allows you to restore compensation in the estimated amount. If you already have an auto-renewing subscription, you will still have access to Eurosport,” the channel said.
However, in terms of football, Eurosport can hardly be considered the main broadcasting authority – the channel only shows the championship. As it became known, the TV channel no longer broadcasts the top football division of France, as the French side officially announced.
“Indeed, we stopped receiving a signal from our French colleagues, there were no conversations with us about this. The UK League 1 decision is translated as hasty and politicized. So far, the French championship remains without television, ”Alexander Tashchin, general producer of Match TV, confirmed in his Telegram.
A similar prospect threatens the English Premier League, whose matches are broadcast by Okko until the end of this season, and the already mentioned “Match” should start showing from the new season.
Speaking at the Financial Times Business Football Summit on March 3, English Premier League CEO Richard Masters said that contracts for the release of matches in Russia are in the process of being reviewed, Devdiscourse reports.
As for our contracts for foreign television in Russia, they are definitely under review. And in many aspects. I would like the Russian people to see the power of feeling in the Premier League and English football this weekend. But we are very watching watching them in terms of suspension or break in the visible situation.
Sanctions threaten football not only aggressively, but also environmentally. On March 2, Electronic Arts announced that there would be no Russian team in its electronic games.
“In accordance with the position of our partners in FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports is initiating the process of removing the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports products under the auspices of FIFA, FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online,” Electronic Arts said in a statement.