GENEVA, Feb 28: Sports bodies across Europe moved Monday to further isolate and condemn Russia following its invasion of Ukraine 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 football federation said its women’s team will not play Russia in July at the European Championship, and German football club Schalke said it had decided to end its longstanding partnership with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
However, the wave of opposition to Russian teams and athletes has not yet extended to a ban. Nor has the International Olympic Committee suspended Russia or Belarus, which has allowed its land to be used for troops and launching military strikes against Ukraine.
FIFA, the governing body of football, has so far declined to ban Russia from the World Cup. The Russian team, which FIFA said will have to compete as Football Union of Russia as punishment, had been scheduled to host Poland on March 24 in a World Cup qualifying playoff.
But Poland and Russia’s next potential opponents, Sweden and the Czech Republic, have all said they would refuse to take the field.
In hockey, the sport’s governing body has come under pressure from Finland and Switzerland to ban Russia and Belarus, which are both due to play at the world championships in May in Helsinki and Tampere.
Finnish Hockey Association chairman Harri Nummela said in a statement Monday it had talks with the Zurich-based IIHF to exclude the two countries from the sport internationally. (AP)
