This is not Russia’s first time invading Ukraine. Eight years ago Putin’s regime annexed Crimea. It appears now that Putin is going back in to try and finish what he started back in 2014.
It had an effect on Ukrainian soccer back then when Crimea-based football clubs PFC Sevastopol and FC Tavriya were cut from the Ukrainian Premier League.
This week Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy suspended play in the country’s domestic league.
Back in 2012, Ukraine co-hosted the European Championships along with neighboring Poland. It was meant to herald a new era, not only for Ukrainian football but for the nation itself, as it prepared to join the European Union.
A great example of how much Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has affected the game is the fate of the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. Due to Russia’s invasion of Crimea, the club has been displaced from its home base for eight years.
In 2014 the club was forced to move to Lviv which is 750 miles from the team’s hometown of Donetsk. They then moved their base to Kharkiv from 2017–2020. While closer to Donetsk, the club was still 187 miles from home. Since 2020, Shakhtar has played its home matches at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv; 450 miles from Donetsk. Despite all the upheaval, Shaktar Donetsk has continued to be one of Ukraine’s most successful clubs.
Since Russia’s new invasion of Ukraine, the world of football has been affected in many ways. Here are some of the events that have happened due to Putin’s aggression.
FIFA and UEFA announced that the Russian national and club teams have been banned from all competitions “until further notice.” Russia had been scheduled to take part in World Cup qualifying playoffs in three weeks (FIFA and UEFA are both corrupt and probably did this because they had to. Keep in mind FIFA and Sep Blatter controversially awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia. They should also be investigated for Qatar’s hosting of this year’s World Cup as the tiny gulf nation has been using modern slavery to build its stadiums.)
Spartak Moscow was scheduled to meet Leipzig in a two-leg playoff beginning next week, but the Russian club has been disqualified and Leipzig will automatically advance to the quarterfinals.
Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic declared they would not play Russia, possibly forfeiting a World Cup berth since they’re all matched in the same four-team playoff pool with Russia.’
Polish Bayern Munich player Robert Lewandowski put it best, “I can’t imagine playing a match with the Russian national team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening.”
The soccer federations in the U.S., Ireland, England, and Wales announced they would not play Russia as long as it remains in Ukraine.
German soccer club Schalke removed the logo of Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, from the front of its jersey while Manchester United canceled a sponsorship deal with Aeroflot, Russia’s state airline.
MLS sides LAGalaxy and LAFC held a moment of silence for the people of Ukraine while displaying the country’s blue-and-yellow flag on the scoreboard before their season openers.
In Lisbon, Benfica player Roman Yaremchuk came on as a second-half sub and the crowd of 39,846 rose to its feet, some waving signs or Ukrainian flags.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is facing sanctions due to his close ties to Putin. He announced this week that he is putting Chelsea up for sale. (I personally hope a really cheap owner comes along and Chelsea will no longer be fueled by Russian billions.)
Ahead of a recent match between Everton and Manchester City Ukrainian players Vitaliy Mykolenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko embraced on the pitch.
Of course sport is not as important as human lives. However, soccer does bring in a lot of revenue and national pride which Russia will now not be a part of.