by Darcy Dean
Due to Russia’s recent attacks and invasions into the country of Ukraine, Russia’s athletes have been banned from many different sporting competitions. Some events have even been moved out of Russia and into other countries.
There are many international organizations that have taken actions such as these to help prevent war and to support Ukraine. Some examples of these organizations such as FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), and the IOC (International Olympic Committee), ITF (International Tennis Organization). These are just three of the many different organizations that are taking action to support Ukraine.
On February 28 FIFA and the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) announced that Russian athletes would be banned from participating in the Men’s World Cup. Due to this announcement, Russia will not be able to participate in the qualifying playoffs in March for the Men’s World Cup in addition to the Men’s World Cup itself.
The decision was announced just before the International Olympic Committee made a statement that advised against inviting Russian or Belarusian athletes or officials to participate in any international competitions. The reason that Belarusians were not admitted to international sporting events was due to them giving support to the Russians in relation to the invasions in Ukraine.
It was also announced that the ban would apply to Russia's women's national team and the 2022 European Championships that are set to be held in England this summer if the ban on Russian athletes lasts until that point in time.
The International Tennis Federation also released a statement that banned the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and Belarus Tennis Federation (BTF) from participation in International Tennis Federation team competition. They said the the ban was going to last “until further notice.” This ban includes the upcoming 2022 Davis Cup and the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup. In addition, the International Tennis Federation canceled all upcoming events that were scheduled to take place in Russia and Belarus.
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons announced on March 3 that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be able to compete in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. This came after a decision was already made to allow these athletes to compete in the games but due to much backlash from the public and other athletes, the decision was reversed. Another reason for not allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete was due to rising tensions in the athletes’ village between the athletes.
Although Russian athletes will not be able to compete, they will still be able to participate in the games as “neutrals.” This means that they will have to cover the symbols on their uniforms that represent their teams, and they will be competing under the Paralympic Flag and not the flag of their countries.
Invasions in Ukraine have not been good for the athletic community of Russia or Belarus. They have been banned from participating in many different sports including soccer or football, tennis, archery, baseball, and basketball. Many of these bans include total from all events and changing the location or canceling all together the events that are scheduled to take place in these counties.
Commentaires