At this rate, any Russian presence will soon be erased from the stadiums. And even screens. This Wednesday, the American company EA Sports announced that, in the wake of its partners FIFA and UEFA, it had “started a process” to “withdraw” the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from the games. products by the brand, namely FIFA 22, FIFA mobile and FIFA online.
“We are also evaluating certain changes in other areas of our games”, further specifies the company, which also indicates that it will inform its communities of any action taken, and thanks its players for their patience during these changes.
EA Sports also took advantage of this press release to show “its solidarity with the Ukrainians” and “like many voices across the world of football” ask for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine.
This Wednesday, on the 7th day of the conflict, the sanctions continued to rain down in the field of sport on Russia and the supporters of Vladimir Putin.
Thus in Germany, Borussia Dortmund withdrew this Wednesday from former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder his title of honorary member of the club, because of his links with Putin and with large Russian groups.
The 77-year-old former Social Democratic Chancellor (1998-2005) displays his closeness to the Russian president. He is also chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, the leading Russian oil group, and of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream 2, a controversial Russian-German gas pipeline. He should in principle join the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom in June. Schroeder refuses at this stage to resign from his mandates.
In England, the Everton club announced on Wednesday the suspension of all its commercial sponsorship contracts with the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, close to Putin and major backer of the Toffees via the companies USM, Megafon and Yota in which he has significant holdings.
Also at the head of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) since 2008, he announced on Tuesday his decision to “suspend his duties as president (…), with immediate effect, until justice is restored” .
In Formula 1, like the Russian Nikita Mazepin (Haas), no Russian or Belarusian driver will be able to participate in motorsport competitions in the United Kingdom, the British federation (Motorsport UK) decided on Wednesday.
As a result, Mazepin, whose future even in F1 remains unclear, will not be able to participate in the British Grand Prix on July 3. A “paying” driver who arrived in F1 last year, Mazepin is the son of Russian billionaire and oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, shareholder of Uralkali, who arrived at the same time as title sponsor of the Haas team.
In addition, the organization of the UTMB (ultra trail), announced “the immediate suspension” of Russian and Belarusian trail runners from all group events until further notice, i.e. 25 races around the world, including the UTMB Mont-Blanc, in August from Chamonix. A hundred Russian runners were registered to date.
Finally, Michel Platini, the former president of UEFA, sent a press release in which he asked Putin to stop the “aggression” against Ukraine: “I ask the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with whom I I have often discussed football and sport, to immediately stop the bombardment of Ukraine, to put an end to this aggression in order to initiate without delay a real diplomatic dialogue in favor of peace.
The Paralympic Games in Beijing will take place with Russian and Belarusian athletes. So decided the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). A Russian delegation will therefore be present at the Games, under a neutral banner, without its flag, its colors or its anthem, just like that of Belarus. “The IPC has been guided by these principles which are dear to it, and by the unshakable conviction of the power of sport to make a difference”, writes the body in its press release.