After the Russian attack on Ukraine, second division soccer team FC Schalke 04 will no longer use the lettering of their main Russian sponsor Gazprom. The club announced this on Thursday. “In view of the events, development and escalation of the past few days,” the club decided to do so, the statement said. The move follows talks with Gazprom Germania. “Instead, Schalke 04 will be on the chest of the Royal Blues,” said the club. The Gazprom logo had already been removed from coach Dimitrios Grammozis’ training jacket at the pre-game press conference.
In the morning it had already become known that the businessman Matthias Warnig, who had been sanctioned by the USA in the course of the Ukraine conflict, had resigned from the supervisory board of the second division football club FC Schalke 04. The club announced on Thursday. Warnig is the CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a subsidiary of the Russian energy company Gazprom. “As soon as all the formal processes that have to be followed have been carried out, he will also leave the supervisory board of FC Schalke 04,” said club spokesman Marc Siekmann at a press conference. The 66-year-old had been a member of the committee since July 2019 as a co-opted member, sent by the main sponsor Gazprom.
Uefa apparently wants to deprive St. Petersburg of the Champions League final
The European Football Union (Uefa) apparently wants to withdraw the Champions League final from Russia’s St. Petersburg on Friday. Due to the Russian attack on Ukraine, according to information from the sports information service and AP, this decision should be taken at a special meeting of the executive committee. The final of the premier class is currently scheduled for May 28 in St. Petersburg.
The Uefa committee will meet on Friday (10 a.m.) “to assess the situation and make all the necessary decisions,” said the continental association on Thursday. Uefa initially left it open on Tuesday after the escalation in Ukraine. The Russian state-owned company Gazprom is one of the biggest sponsors of Uefa. Further information on the procedure “will be announced after the meeting of the Uefa Executive Committee,” it said.
In DFB interim president Rainer Koch and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the former CEO of Bayern Munich, there are also two German representatives on the executive committee. No changes were initially planned for games in the Europa League involving Russian teams either. Two Russian teams remain in the competition in Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow.
Football suspended in Ukraine
A few hours after Russian troops attacked Ukraine, the Ukrainian Football Association suspended the first division. The winter break in the Premier League was supposed to end this Friday with a game between relegation candidates FK Minaj and fourth-placed Sorja Luhansk.
“Due to the imposition of martial law in Ukraine, the Ukrainian championship has been suspended,” said the football association UAF on Thursday. Clubs like Sorja Luhansk or the serial champion Shakhtar Donetsk, which come from the areas of eastern Ukraine that have been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, have not been training or playing in their home country for several years. Shakhtar players and coaches live and train in the capital, Kiev. According to information from Sky Italia, the team and its Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi are currently stuck in a hotel in Kiev and cannot leave the country or this accommodation.
Fifa is holding back
Fifa is initially reluctant to discuss possible consequences after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. At the request of the sports information service SID, the world football association referred to a statement from two days ago that FIFA was monitoring the situation. In addition, President Gianni Infantino will comment after the Council meeting on Thursday evening.
The Russian national team is still in the running to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. Russia will host Poland in the World Cup play-offs on March 24 in the capital Moscow. The winner plays either Sweden or the Czech Republic for a ticket to Qatar on March 29 and has home advantage. The European Football Union (Uefa) had referred to Fifa with regard to the games.
Effects on Paralympics still unclear
Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) referred to the Olympic ceasefire resolution in view of the Winter Paralympics in Beijing starting on March 4th. “The Winter Paralympic Games fall under the Olympic Truce Resolution entitled ‘Building a Peaceful and Better World Through Sport and the Olympic Ideal’, which was unanimously adopted by 193 member states at the 76th UN General Assembly,” the IPC said on request: “It calls for compliance with the Olympic Truce seven days before the start of the Winter Olympics on February 4, 2022, until seven days after the end of the Winter Paralympic Games on March 21.”
It is still unclear whether there will be any sporting effects on the games. “The IPC is in dialogue with both the Ukrainian and the Russian Paralympic Committee in advance,” said the world association: “As a politically neutral organization, the focus of the IPC is still more on the upcoming games than on the current situation.”
IOC condemns breach of “Olympic Truce” by Russia
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has “emphatically” condemned the breach of the Olympic Truce “by the Russian government”. The “Olympic Truce” began seven days before the start of the Olympic Games and ended seven days after the closing ceremony of the Paralympics, the IOC emphasized. A corresponding UN resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 2, 2021 by consensus of all 193 UN member states. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the IOC expressed “deep concern for the security of the Olympic community in Ukraine”.
On Thursday, IOC President Thomas Bach reiterated his call for peace, which he had already expressed in his speeches at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games: “Note your commitment to this Olympic peace, give peace a chance. ” After the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014, Russia disregarded the Olympic Truce. Immediately after the closing ceremony (February 23), on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, preparations for the annexation of Crimea began.
DOSB and DBS recommend “suspending competitions in Russia and the war zones”
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS) “strongly condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine”. In a joint written statement, DOSB President Thomas Weikert and DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher recommend “our member organizations to suspend participation in competitions and training measures in Russia and the war zones”. In addition, the two top sports associations are calling on Russia to “stop the acts of war”.
Ski Association Fis advises on World Cup cancellation in Russia
In view of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the World Ski Association Fis does not rule out the cancellation of the World Cup finals for cross-country skiers from March 18th to 20th in Tyumen, Russia. As the German Press Agency learned on Thursday, there will be advice on this during the World Cup from Friday to Sunday in Lahti, Finland. Tyumen is located in Western Siberia, about 1700 kilometers from Moscow.