IOC proposes exclusion of Russian, Belarusian athletes from international events
Sports bodies across Europe refusing to host or play against teams from Russia
In a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude the country's athletes and officials from international events.
The IOC said it was needed to "protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants."
The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.
The Olympic body's call also applied to athletes and official from Belarus, which has abetted Russia's invasion by allowing its territory to be used to station troops and launch military attacks.
The IOC said it acted "with a heavy heart" but the impact of war on Ukrainian sports outweighed the potential damage done to athletes from Russia and Belarus.
It was not a total blanket ban by the IOC. Where exclusion was "not possible on short notice for organizational or legal reasons," then teams from Russia and Belarus should compete as neutral athletes with no national flag, anthem or symbols, including at the upcoming Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
The IOC also withdrew the Olympic Order it gave Vladimir Putin in 2001, and other Russian officials since.
Meanwhile, the International Paralympic Committee said it would be discussing the Russian Paralympic Committee's involvement in the Games in a board meeting on Wednesday in China.
A decision is expected soon after. The opening ceremony begins on Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET. Most of the RPC delegation is expected to arrive on Wednesday, while the team's flag is already up at multiple venues.
WATCH | Ukrainian athletes call for Russia, Belarus to be banned from Paralympics:
In a statement Tuesday, the Canadian Paralympic Committee said Russia should not be allowed to compete at international sporting events, including the Paralympic Winter Games.
"The decision of country participation at the Paralympic Games is a matter for the IPC. We understand that due to legal constraints, the IPC is unable to expel Russia and Belarus from the Beijing Paralympic Games, and so we urge the IPC to impose the strongest sanctions that are available," the CPC statement read.
"We also ask that a special assembly of the IPC members be organized as soon as possible to consider revoking the memberships of Russia and Belarus from the International Paralympic Committee.
"Our thoughts are with everyone in Ukraine, as well as with the communities of our athletes, coaches, and staff members who may have friends or family affected by these horrific events."
Sports bodies across Europe had already moved against Russia on Monday by refusing to host or play against teams from the country.
Finland wants the Russian hockey team to be banned from the men's world championships it will host in May, the Swiss soccer federation said its women's team will not play Russia in July at the European Championship, and German soccer club Schalke said it had decided to end its longstanding partnership with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the COC Athlete's Commission (AC) also condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"We condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and flagrant breaking of international law and the Olympic Truce," the COC said in a statement. "In solidarity with Ukraine and Ukrainian athletes, the COC and the AC fully support all sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, including the International Olympic Committee Executive Board's six resolutions made on February 28th 2022.
"Together, we strongly urge all Canadian National Sport Organizations and organizations hosting international sporting events in Canada to immediately rescind invitations and bar the participation of athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus."
Countries refuse to play Russia in World Cup playoffs
FIFA declined to ban Russia from the World Cup over the weekend. Instead, the soccer body said the country's national team will have to compete as Football Union of Russia as punishment. Besides Poland, both Sweden and the Czech Republic, Russia's next potential opponents, have said they would refuse to take the field against them.
"The Swedish Football Association is disappointed with FIFA's decision but is determined to continue to work together with other federations to cancel Russia's matches in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers," the body said Monday, citing the "illegal and deeply unjust invasion of Ukraine."
The World Cup is scheduled to begin on Nov. 21 in Qatar.
In European club soccer, Russian team Spartak Moscow is still scheduled to play next week in the Europa League against German club Leipzig. European governing body UEFA allowed Spartak to take its place in the round of 16 draw on Friday, one day after Putin ordered the invasion to start.
UEFA called a meeting of its executive committee for later Monday and is expected to exclude Russian teams from its competitions based on the IOC's announcement.
There is precedent for removing Russian teams from sports. In 1992, following United Nations sanctions, FIFA and UEFA expelled Yugoslavia from its competitions when war broke out in the Balkans.
Besides Schalke's effort to drop Gazprom as a partner, UEFA is also expected to see if it can nullify its sponsorship deals with the company. Gazprom sponsors both the Champions League and the European Championship.
WATCH l Soccer world responds to Russian invasion of Ukraine:
On the pitch, FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia's national teams and clubs from international football until further notice.
The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year's World Cup and the women's Euro 2020 tournament.
"FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice," UEFA said in a statement.
"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters," they added.
UEFA also ended its sponsorship with Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Russia was scheduled to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff on March 24 and if they remained suspended at that time, they would be out of the World Cup and unable to progress to the finals in Qatar in November.
'Sharper stance' expected from FIFA
The Russian soccer team was already due to play under those conditions if they qualified for the World Cup because of the doping scandals. FIFA's decision to apply the conditions to a regional sports event — European qualification games — is the only element of punishment for the war.
If Russia were to play Poland as scheduled on March 24 and win, the team would then face either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29.
Swedish soccer federation president Karl-Erik Nilsson, who is also the senior vice president at UEFA, said Sunday he expected a "sharper stance" from FIFA.
Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said Sunday it was "totally unacceptable" that FIFA had not immediately expelled Russia from World Cup qualifying and said Poland is "not interested in participating in this game of appearances."
Another of Russia's future opponents, Albania, also said Sunday it would not play against that country in any sports. Russia and Albania are scheduled to meet twice in June in the UEFA Nations League soccer tournament. The group also includes Iceland and Israel.
WATCH | Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev makes plea for no war in Ukraine:
In hockey, the sport's governing body suspended Russian and Belarusian teams from its competitions until further notice and revoked Russia's 2023 World Junior Championship hosting rights.
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych is pushing for sanctions to be handed down to the Russian and Belarusian Olympic and Paralympic Committees for Russia's attacks on his home country.
Facilitated by advocacy group Global Athlete, an open letter was released on behalf of Ukrainian athletes, to the IOC and International Paralympic Committee for both to be suspended, with that including the two countries being banned from the upcoming Paralympics in Beijing.
The 23-year-old, who is currently in Zhitomir, Ukraine, outside of his hometown of Kyiv, feels as though it's only fitting they are handed strict consequences.
Top-seeded tennis player Elina Svitolina, a 27-year-old from Ukraine, said she will withdraw from the Monterrey Open rather than face a Russian opponent at the Mexican tournament unless tennis's governing bodies follow the IOC's lead.
✊🏼🇺🇦 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%97%D0%BD%D0%B0?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Україна</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StandWithUkriane?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StandWithUkriane</a> <a href="https://t.co/1LT4WjrYI9">pic.twitter.com/1LT4WjrYI9</a>
—@ElinaSvitolinaSvitolina wrote Monday on Twitter that she did not want to play her opening-round contest against Anastasia Potapova "nor any other match against Russian or Belarusian tennis players until" the WTA women's tour, ATP men's tour and International Tennis Federation "follow the recommendations of the IOC" and bar those countries' competitors from using any national symbols, colours, flags or anthems.
"I do not blame any of the Russian athletes," Svitolina wrote. "They are not responsible for the invasion of our motherland."
WATCH | Ukrainian Olympian urges IPC to ban Russian athletes from upcoming Paralympics:
With files from CBC Sports
